You Can Meet a Real Robotic Dog at DHDC in Amarillo This Week

When you read the words "robotic dog," what comes to mind? For some of us, it's an image of the toy robot dogs that you used to see everywhere that had floppy ears.

This is not one of those dogs.

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The Don Harrington Discovery Center is playing host two days this week to Astro the Robotic Dog. It will be there tomorrow (6/16) and Thursday (6/17).

While the name Astro may strike a nostalgic chord in the hearts of Jetsons fans, this dog is a lot different. It looks a lot different too.

This robo-dog is designed to be used for all kinds of things. In a description of the event it lists things like surveillance, maintenance, and risk mitigation. It sounds serious.

The description goes on to say that the "dogs" are being designed to be used for work in hazardous environments.

You'll be able to see Astro starting at 3:30 PM at the Discovery Center Wednesday and Thursday. The "dog" will be assisting demonstration so that you will be able to see some of its capabilities.

For me, the craziest part of the robot dog is that it is an "unmanned vehicle." That means this thing doesn't need to have someone pushing buttons to make it do what it is that it's supposed to do.

It's autonomous. I think it's a stretch to say it "thinks" on its own, but that doesn't mean it isn't impressive.

I am curious as to what "tricks" it will be able to perform. You can get more info on the event by clicking on this link.