I spent $4,000 on a robot dog from China
A tech journalist recounts their experience purchasing and commuting with a $4,000 Unitree Go2 Pro robot dog. The experiment highlights the current limitations of consumer robotics regarding battery life and thermal management.
Why it matters
As consumer-grade quadruped robots become more accessible, this highlights the gap between marketing promises and real-world utility.
house-trained, but can’t fetch I spent $4,000 on a robot dog from China Unitree might be the world’s most important robotics company.
11 Me at the office with my Unitree Go2 Pro robot dog. Credit: Nat Purser Me at the office with my Unitree Go2 Pro robot dog. Credit: Nat Purser Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav On a sunny morning in June, I walked to work with a quadruped robot beside me. I’ve never gotten more attention from strangers.
A bunch of people snapped pictures of my robot dog. Several people asked me questions. Was it mine? (Yes.) Did I build it? (No.) Was it being used for surveillance? (No.)
Biological dogs kept a safe distance from my mechanical companion. Some growled or barked at it.
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