Ghost Robotics Adds Arm to Vision 60 Quadruped

Ghost Robotics today announces a major update to its four-legged Vision 60 device: arms. Ghost, a company that originated in University of Pennsylvania GRASP Laboratory.specializes in extremely reliable four-legged animals, and although many of its clients use its robots for… public safety And disaster reliefthis is also provides robots To United States military personnel who have very specific needs when it comes to protecting people from danger.

In this context, it is not unreasonable to assume that Ghost robots could sometimes be used to carry weaponand despite proliferation of robots in many roles in Ukraine war, idea foot robot Carrying a gun is uncomfortable for many people. IEEE spectrum spoke with the co-founder and current CEO of Ghost Gavin Kennelly to learn more about the new arm and get his thoughts on selling robots to the military.

The new Vision 60 lever has six degrees of freedom. Ghost Robotics

Robots for the army

Ghost Robotics initially made a name for himself with his very impressive early work with the direct-drive quadruped Minitaur in 2016. The company also made headlines in late 2021 when a now-deleted post on Twitter (now X) went viral because it featured a photo of one of the quadrupeds from Ghost Vision 60. with a rifle mounted on the back.

This picture led to very strong reactionalthough how IEEE spectrum As reported at the time, robots with guns attached to them were nothing new: to mention one early example, the US military had already placed weapons on mobile robots in Iraq in 2007. And although several companies producing legged robots pledged not to use their general-purpose robots as weapons in 2022Chinese military in 2024 displayed quadrupeds of Unitry equipped with guns. (Unitree, based in Chinawas one of the signatories of the 2022 commitment.)

Question armed robots goes far beyond ghost robotics and far beyond robots with legs. We've looked at both practical And ethical views on this issue are widely represented on IEEE spectrumand the intensity of the debate shows that there is no simple answer. But to sum up one important point made by some ethicists, some military experts and Ghost Robotics itself: robots are replaceable, but humans are not. “Customers use our robots to keep people safe,” says Ghost CEO Kennelly. Spectrum.

It's also worth noting that even companies that have signed a pledge not to weaponize their general-purpose robots be aware What military robots exist and accept it on the condition that such robots are used in accordance with existing legal doctrines and operate within those safeguards—and that what restrictions should or should not be placed on such robots is best decided by policymakers, not industry.

That's essentially Ghost Robotics' position, Kennelly says. “We sell our robots to US and allied governments, and as part of that, the robots are used for defense purposes, where they can sometimes be used as weapons. What's most important to us is that decisions about how to use these robots are made systematically and ethically at the public policy level.”

To some extent, these decisions are already being made within the US government. Department of Defense Directive 3000.09“Autonomy in Weapon Systems,” outlines the responsibilities and limitations of how autonomous or human-controlled robotic weapon systems should be developed and deployed, including requirements for judgments about human use of force. At least in the US, this directive implies that there are rules and responsibilities for robotic weapons.

Universal capabilities of the Vision 60 manipulator

Ghost views its four-legged Vision 60 as a system that trusted customers can use at their discretion, and the robotic arm provides many additional capabilities. “The main purpose of the robot was to serve as a sensing platform,” says Kennelly, “but sometimes there are doors or objects that get in the way that need to be moved, or you might need the robot to take a sample. So being able to do all of that mobile manipulation has been extremely valuable to our clients.”

It turns out that weapons are useful for more than just manipulation. “What's really interesting is that our customers have used the arm as a sensor bar, which we didn't expect,” says Kennelly. The robot Ghost has a lot camerasbut they are mostly from the point of view of a medium sized dog. The new arm offers a more human-like view and the ability to look around corners or objects without exposing the entire robot.

The ghost was not particularly interested in creating his own hand and tried ready-made options to make the manipulation work. And they managed to make the manipulation work; what didn't work was either of those arms after the 50kg robot rolled over on them. “We wanted to make sure we could create an arm that could withstand the same harsh environments our customers use as the rest of the robot,” says Kennelly. “Morphologically, we actually think of the arm as a fifth leg, so the robot acts as a single control system for the entire body.”

The rest of the robot is exceptionally durable, making it attractive to customers with unique needs, such as special-purpose teams. Battery life is good for more than three hours of walking (or more than 20 hours of standby) – which isn't bad, and the Vision 60 is sand and dust resistant and can withstand full submersion in shallow water. It can operate in extreme temperatures from -40°C to 55°C, which is a particular challenge for robots. And if you manage to put it in a situation where it physically breaks one of its legs, it's easy to replace it with a spare in just a few minutes, even in the field.

The Vision 60 can open doors under the guidance of a human operator.Ghost Robotics

Four-legged robot competition from China

Although Ghost has quietly sold more than a thousand four-legged animals to date, Kennelly is cautious about the immediate future. leg robotsas would anyone who was seriously considering buying one, because it's impossible to ignore the opportunity to simply buy one from a Chinese company for about a tenth of the cost of a four-legged one from a company based in the US or Europe.

“China has identified legged robotics as a cornerstone technology that they are strategically funding,” says Kennelly. “I think this is an extremely serious threat in the long term, and we need to take these competitors very seriously, despite their current shortcomings.” There is currently a technology moat, but if the market for legged robots follows the same trajectory as the drones did, this moat will shrink dramatically over the next few years.

The United States is ready ban the sale of consumer drones from Chinese manufacturer DJIAnd banned the use of DJI drones by federal agencies in 2017. But in some ways it may already be too late as DJI's global market share something like 90 percent. Meanwhile, Unitree may already be backed into a corner somewhere around 70 percent global market for four-legged animals, despite recent publication of exploits which allow robots to send unauthorized data to China.

In the United States in particular, private sector robotics funding is unpredictable at the best of times, and Kennelly argues that in order to compete with China's subsidized robot manufacturers, American companies like Ghost that make these robots domestically will also need sustained support from the US government. This doesn't mean the government should pick and choose which companies will be winners, but it should find a way to support the US. robotics industry overall if he still wants to have a meaningful result. “The quadruped industry is no longer a science project,” says Kennelly. “It is ripe and four-legged robots will become extremely important in both commercial and government applications. But it is only through constant innovation that we can stay ahead.”