Boston Dynamics' Spot Starts Picking Up Litter in Downtown Detroit Next Week

So basically: Robot dogs are about to start picking up trash on the sidewalks of downtown Detroit. Bedrock Detroit and Boston Dynamics plan to test Spot with a robotic arm that can grab litter as small as a cigarette butt, starting Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Who is doing this

Two players.

Boston Dynamics makes Spot, the yellow four-legged robot you have probably seen in viral videos. Spot has been on sale to businesses since 2020. It mostly does inspections at factories, power plants, and construction sites.

Bedrock is a big Detroit real estate company. It owns and manages a lot of downtown buildings and public spaces.

Bedrock wants Detroit to be a proving ground for new city tech. This is part of that push.

What is happening

FOX 2 Detroit got a preview this week.

Here is the plan:

• Spot robots will start public testing in downtown Detroit
• Prep for the program took six to eight months
• Litter pickup testing starts as early as Oct. 14
• Testing runs in a supervised mode, with people watching, for the next few months
• If it goes well, the robots move to a live, everyday deployment

Kevin Mull runs Bedrock’s Office of Urban Strategy. He called Spot an “autonomous mobile sensing platform.” In plain words, a robot that can walk around on its own and collect data.

The litter part is the new part

Spot already does a lot of things. Climbing stairs, opening doors, and mapping buildings are not new.

Picking up trash on a busy city sidewalk is new.

Mull told FOX 2:

“One of the ones that we think is really interesting, is the ability to pick up litter. And that might be the one that people would see downtown, as we’re gonna be testing as early as next week. This kind of platform with a robotic arm that can pick up trash as small as a cigarette butt.”

He also said this is not a product you can buy yet:

“That’s a solution that’s not yet in the market. So we’re one of the first places that Boston Dynamics is testing that.”

Why a cigarette butt is hard

It sounds simple. It is not.

A cigarette butt is tiny, light, and often the same color as the ground. The robot has to spot it, tell it apart from a leaf or a pebble, walk to it without tripping anyone, and pinch it with a gripper.

Then it has to do that over and over, around people, dogs, bikes, and curbs.

That is a real test of vision and grip, not just walking.

What else Spot might do there

Litter is the fun headline, but Bedrock listed other jobs too:

• Inspecting buildings
• Security patrols
• Mapping hard to reach areas
• Going places that are unsafe for people
• Ground delivery of packages

Bedrock is also testing robots for floor cleaning, according to the reporting.

Mull said downtown Detroit could be the first place where Spot gets deployed commercially in this kind of setting, even though Boston Dynamics has many other customers.

Why it matters

Most robots work behind fences, in warehouses and factories. Sidewalks are the opposite. They are messy, crowded, and unpredictable.

If Spot can handle downtown Detroit, it is a sign these robots are ready for public spaces, not just job sites.

It also hints at a business model. Property owners pay for cleaning and security every day. A robot that does some of that at night or in bad weather could be easy to justify.

My take

I love this test because it is so specific. Not “the future of cities.” Just: can a robot dog pick up a cigarette butt?

That is the right way to test robots. Pick one boring job and see if it actually works.

I do want to see the numbers when this is over. How much litter per hour? How often does a person have to step in? A trash can on legs is cute, but it has to beat a guy with a grabber and a bucket.

Still, if you are in downtown Detroit next week, keep your eyes on the sidewalk.