The French company Evotech has developed a “low cost” quadruped droid which will be tested during the Paris Olympic Games, as part of a contract with the Ministry of the Interior.
In the Pixar animated film, released in 2008, Wall-E was responsible for cleaning up the planet deserted by humanity. In 2024, E-Doggy will patrol the sites of the Paris Olympic Games with the deminers. Except this time, it’s not fiction. The French company Evotech has designed and manufactured in its Landes workshops a quadruped droid which will be tested by law enforcement during the Olympics, as part of a contract with the Ministry of the Interior.
This aluminum and carbon robot, with a morphology close to that of a dog (but without a head), is not intended to replace mine clearance professionals. “He will be able to observe the situation a little more closely and carry tools for the mine clearer”, explained its designer Anthony Gavend, co-founder of Evotech, to BFMTV. He will play the role of docile assistant for these specialists who often carry heavy equipment during their interventions.
Able to manipulate objects
In a video published on YouTube last January, the French company details the characteristics of its new toy, which combines robotics, mechanics and artificial intelligence. Controlled remotely by data-link communication, the 15 kg robot will be able to approach suspicious areas and transmit live images using an FPV camera, allowing mine clearance workers to remain safe. It will also be able to move and manipulate objects using an articulated arm, or even control the contents of a bag and remove the contents.
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Like a real canine, E-Doggy is also capable of being autonomous. Powered by three motors, it can follow or precede its master, even on uneven terrain, and obey simple orders like “gives paw”, “sit, lie down, stand”underlines BFMTV. “He can’t bark yet, but he can say certain phrases, which allows him to send some information to his deminer”specifies Anthony Gavend to the continuous news channel.
But the immense advantage of this new droid lies in its cost. Because this technological gem is accessible for the modest sum of 15,000 euros. For comparison, the American company Ghost Robotics, which has been working on this type of model for several decades, recently marketed a robot dog, tested by the US Air Force, at a price of 75,000 euros.
