Humanoid & robot atlas
Spot (now called Spot Classic)
Photo: Boston Dynamics (official image), from bostondynamics.com. Image policy
RetiredSucceeded by SpotMini United StatesAssisted

Boston Dynamics · robot dog

Spot

now called Spot Classic

A 72.5 kg electric-hydraulic quadruped, smaller and quieter than BigDog. It was later renamed Spot Classic when the electric Spot arrived.

Price
—prototype, not sold
Height
—Not published
Weight
72.5 kgHeavier than 90%
Payload
—Not published
Speed
—Not published
Battery
—Not published
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Why it matters

Boston Dynamics' first electrically powered hydraulic quadruped, usable indoors; its kick-recovery video went viral.

Real-world use

US Marine Corps training exercises in September 2015.

Timeline

First shown
2015-02
Released
Not yet
Boston Dynamics YouTube video

Maker

Boston DynamicsCompany · founded 1992 · Waltham, Massachusetts, United States

Owned by Hyundai Motor Group since June 2021 (80% stake bought from SoftBank for about $880M; SoftBank kept about 20%).

How it stacks up

Against other robot dogs that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

  1. HyQ2MaxIstituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) · 201580 kg
  2. Spot (now called Spot Classic)Boston Dynamics · 201572.5 kg
  3. MIT Cheetah 3MIT Biomimetic Robotics Lab · 201840.8 kg
  4. ANYmal (first generation)ETH Zurich / ANYbotics · 201630 kg
  5. SpotMiniBoston Dynamics · 201625 kg
  6. LaikagoUnitree Robotics · 201722 kg
  7. AlienGoUnitree Robotics · 201921.5 kg
  8. aibo ERS-1000Sony · 20172.2 kg

Spot (now called Spot Classic) is heavier than 90% of the 41 other robot dogs that publish a weight. Bars show the 7 closest in date.

Weight 72.5 kg 0.3 kg130 kg #5 of 42 · heavier than 90%

Not published by the maker: height, speed, payload, joints, battery, price.

Public attention

A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current machines.

  • No Wikipedia article of its own yet
  • 1 news story from reputable press listed on this page

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

The parts the company has talked about publicly.

Movement
Walks on legs
How it runs
Assisted. An operator steered it with a handheld controller while it kept its own balance over rough ground.
Actuators & motors
Electrically powered, hydraulically actuated legs; a battery runs the hydraulic pump
Sensors & vision
Sensor head with a Velodyne lidar and stereo vision
Other details
About 160 lb (72.5 kg)

Lineage

Every Boston Dynamics machine in order.

  1. RHexRHex2001Research
  2. BigDogBigDog2005Retired
  3. LittleDogLittleDog2005Retired
  4. RiSERiSE2006Retired
  5. Sand FleaSand Flea2012Retired
  6. LS3 (Legged Squad Support System)LS3 (Legged Squad Support System)2012Retired
  7. CheetahCheetah2012Retired
  8. WildCatWildCat2013Retired
  9. Spot (now called Spot Classic)Spot (now called Spot Classic)2015Retired
  10. SpotMiniSpotMini2016Retired
  11. HandleHandle2017Retired
  12. Handle (logistics version)Handle (logistics version)2019Retired
  13. SpotSpot2019Commercial
  14. StretchStretch2021Commercial
  15. Spot Enterprise and Spot ArmSpot Enterprise and Spot Arm2021Commercial

Boston Dynamics also makes 5 humanoids. See every Boston Dynamics robot

Watch Spot (now called Spot Classic)

Video: Boston Dynamics on YouTube. Plays from youtube-nocookie.com when you press play.

Made, sold and where

Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.

Price
Not publishedprototype, not sold
How to get one
No official buying page found
Built
Prototype
Sold or delivered
not sold
Customers and pilots
US Marine Corps tested it in exercises in 2015

News

The latest 1, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.

  1. Boston Dynamics introduces Spot

    Boston Dynamics revealed Spot, a smaller electric-hydraulic quadruped with lidar and stereo vision.

    IEEE Spectrum

Sources

Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.

IEEE Spectrum Spot is Boston Dynamics' nimble new quadruped robot I Programmer Spot is Boston Dynamics' new robot dog Boston Dynamics Legacy robots

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