Barbecues with friends are likely to change a lot across the Atlantic. Throwflame, a company from Ohio, United States, recently put the Thermonator, a robot dog capable of spitting flames more than 9 meters, for sale on its site. The fire-breathing robot can also jump, avoid obstacles using its laser vision and run at 10 km/h. The machine, straight out of James Cameron’s apocalyptic film, is not an original design by Throwflame, but that of another start-up, Unitree Robotics, which manufactures all kinds of robots (dogs or humanoids). Specializing in the design of flamethrowers, Throwflame just had the idea of buying one of their models, the Go2 robot dog and adding the “flamethrower” option to it.
Presented last year as “the first flame-throwing robot dog”, the model only recently went on sale. The 2.0 canine capable of setting fire to everything in its path can be purchased without a license or certification in all American states, except Maryland and California where a license is required. Since the robot is not considered a firearm, it is sold as a simple consumer product.
Its price: 9,420 dollars (or 8,500 euros). The American firm details on its site all the possible uses of Terminator… sorry Thermonator. “Forest fire control and prevention, agricultural management, de-icing, entertainment and special effects”, we can read in the presentation sheet. Unlike the United States, the purchase in France of such potentially dangerous technology is impossible since possession of a flamethrower is prohibited there and punishable by 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros. .
