Spot Defender

The Spot Defender is a rugged mount that allows the Trimble X7 3D laser scanner to be remotely operated on the back of a Boston Dynamics Spot robot. There were several key requirements needed for a successful marriage of these technologies. The mount needed to properly position the X7 relative to all of the other accessories potentially mounted on Spot. It needed to dampen vibration between Spot and the sensitive optical components of the X7. The mount also needed to provide protection in the event of a fall by the robot. To top it off, the mount had to minimize any obstruction of the X7 camera as it rotates 360 degrees to capture a full 3D scan of the environment.

Pump developed several concepts to achieve these objectives and helped prototype, evaluate and test several approaches. Ultimately, we designed a carbon fiber bumper, both light and strong, to dampen the impact of a side fall where the weight of impact included the robot itself. The aluminum sheet metal base is both light and strong without limiting any of Spot’s motion and accessory mounting. The Spot Defender mount also has expandable mounting options for future accessories.

Pump helped perform several rounds of prototype, testing and evaluation to refine the approach and maximize performance of the unit, ensuring a smooth transition to production.