FDNY robot dog hits street
NEW YORK - An FDNY robot dog has hit the street for the first time this week.
After a widely criticized test by the NYPD to use the robot for policing, the fire department is hoping that their use will be accepted by the public.
The FDNY has already purchased two of the $75,000 Boston Dynamics robot dogs. The plan is to use the robots in dangerous search and rescue missions.
Mayor Adams released a Twitter video of him controlling the dog up a staircase. The mayor captioned it with: "The future of fire safety and rescue."
It is quite a different use for them than the ones that the police department bought last year. The NYPD drew immediate backlash when their blue police dogs were seen at crime scenes.
New York City cut its contract with Boston Dynamics and scrapped the program and some elected officials looked to ban their use by law enforcement.
The sudden termination came after a video of the dog patrolling a housing project in Manhattan went viral.
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State Senator Brad Hoylman represents the district where the incident took place. He thought deploying the robot dog anywhere undermined police-community relations but especially in a public housing complex where residents might already mistrust the police.
"They deserve policing that is humane and human," Hoylman said.
The FDNY hopes to change the public's perception of them.
The first big change might be their color. While the NYPD had theirs painted blue to make them look more like police department tools, the ones the FDNY is testing are yellow.
Boston Dynamics markets the robots as a public safety tool to keep people out of harm's way to assess hazardous situations.
It calls the robot dog Spot and says the agile robot climbs stairs and traverses rough terrain with ease.
The company says it can be deployed with specialized sensors to detect radiological and nuclear material, toxic gases, and other hazardous materials.
The FDNY has looked for advanced technology since the 9/11 attacks.
It used a tethered drone to respond to a fire for the first time in March 2017.
Robotics is now its own unit inside the FDNY.