'Do not pet': Why are robot dogs patrolling Mar-A-Lago?

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Sun Nov 17, 2024, 10:40 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: BBC

7 hours ago


A robotic dog named “Spot” made by Boston Dynamics is the latest tool in the arsenal of the US Secret Service. The device has lately been spotted patrolling the perimeter of President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. They do not have weapons - and each can be controlled remotely or automatically - as long as its route is pre-programmed.

Passers-by are warned by a sign on each of Spot’s legs: “DO NOT PET.” “I don't know that anyone is tempted to pet these robot dogs. They do not look cuddly,” said Melissa Michelson, a political scientist at Menlo College. Video of Spot strutting around the property has gone viral on TikTok - where reactions range from calling them cool and cute, to creepy - and become fodder for jokes on American late night television.

But its mission is no laughing matter. “Safeguarding the president-elect is a top priority,” said Anthony Guglielmi, US Secret Service chief of communications, in a statement to the BBC. In the months leading up to the US presidential election, Trump was the target of two apparent assassination attempts. The first took place at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and the other occurred at the Mar-a-Lago golf course in September.

Citing “concern for operational security,” the Secret Service declined to answer the BBC’s specific questions about the use of robotic dogs in Trump’s security detail, including when the agency began deploying the device at his primary residence. Boston Dynamics also declined to answer specific questions, although it confirmed the Secret Service was deploying its Spot robot.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c30p16gn3pvo

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ETA - a YouTube of it -

[taxi]

1. Donnie finally gets his military parade?

Doesn't it really come down to acting like a spoiled child, protesting, holding his breath, and stomping his feet until he gets what he wants?

[Ocelot II]

2. Because a real dog would bite him.

[milestogo]

3. I hope they fall in the pool.

[PatSeg]

4. Whoa, that is really creepy

It is like something out of some futuristic sci-fi movie.

[Zeitghost]

22. It's a mobile camera

No different than drones or other security monitoring equipment.

[PatSeg]

23. Except it looks like a dog

[Talitha]

5. Couldn't a sniper easily disable it?

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I can imagine a racoon running up to it

and knocking it over... or maybe a 'gator giving it a heave-ho into the water.

[JohnnyRingo]

15. Actually, you can kick it over and it just jumps right up.

I saw a clip where one tumbled off a small cliff, landed upright and took back off.
Incredible gyro system.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Oh I've seen all kinds of videos a couple years ago

of these and the "human sized" ones. The articulation is pretty cool. But I would use the old "SW: Empire Strikes Back" and "SW: Return of the Jedi" "solutions" with anything like that -

[PatSeg]

16. Ha, ha, ha! Thanks for the visual!

[harumph]

10. absolutely

[ShazzieB]

11. Yes!

The article said all you have to do is spray it in the "face" with Aquanet hairspray, and the cameras will stop working.

[PatSeg]

17. Oh, I love it!!!

[littlemissmartypants]

19. Imagine...

A strategic robot bird dropping a big mess right on that camera. I guess windshield wipers would just confuse it.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Unless they are like this

[FakeNoose]

7. It's just a roving surveillance camera

It's only disguised as a "dog" for human acceptance.

[Irish_Dem]

20. I'd rather see a camera on wheels than a creepy looking robot dog from hell.

[FakeNoose]

21. I know, right?

[cstanleytech]

8. That's why if Trump could spend most of his Presidency down there before he can just as well spend it in prison in NY.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Woof, woof. Hello. My name is Rags.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/k_5gl8SizdU

[wendyb-NC]

12. He's terrified of non-human animals

Besides, they won't shit on his lawn.

[Vinca]

13. Hope they have replacement parts in case Noem shoots it.

[JohnnyRingo]

14. It's the 21st century.

You can bet Mar a Lago is not the only place they've been deployed., but not high profile enough to be reported..

[Rhiannon12866]

24. A "dog" that only TFG could love...

[dem4decades]

26. Dogs are a good judge of character; they couldn't find one that would go to Mar a largo.

[Better Days Ahoy]

27. It looks like a spider

With four legs.
Betcha it's hackable.

[kerouac2]

28. Someone must have watched metalhead

And they will surely usher in the era of robot dog warriors and assassins.

[jmowreader]

29. When do they attach the syringe?

In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the Firemen had Mechanical Hounds that injected people who were unwilling to allow the Firemen to burn their books with lethal doses of drugs. That is something Trump’s people would think is a good idea.