When you name your robotic quadruped after the terrifyingly hard-to-stop honey badger, you’re probably trying to send a message. Unlike Boston Dynamics’ Spot, which is supposed to be relatively benign, this little guy is capable of cornering folks in water as well as land.
MAB Robotics, a tech company based in Poland, recently demonstrated its four-legged critter. It’s not enough that the diminutive quadruped walks with the same senseless menace that most robots of its type do. It’ll scuttle across the bottom of a pool with equal skill.
Aquatic quadruped
We shouldn’t have to point out just how scary that is. The Honey Badger legged robot (you’ll notice that MAB has opted to skip the canine comparisons) is rated for underwater use, ostensibly for “inspection and maintenance in flooded or challenging areas”. That’s certainly one possible use for one. The other is to stage an autonomous amphibious assault on an unsuspecting resort town in the early hours of a drowsy summer morning.
The waterproofing and overall compact design of the Honey Badger 4.0 means that its 12kg frame will leave a sizeable dent in your foot if you kick one as it lurches out of a pool at you. It’s capable of hauling around a two-kilogram payload — what that is is presumably up to the user — and while this means a decent amount of inspection gear, we can’t stop thinking of military applications. And toilet pythons.
You can’t buy one, at retail anyway, but they are available to folks who contact MAB Robotics. They’re built to specification, so you can send your new critter to inspect sewer pipes or the undersides of a ship as it comes into a drydock. Just don’t let the compact quadruped loose at your pool party, as funny as it might be. Your guests probably can’t take the shock to their systems.