Spot (pictured above) is the famous robotic dog from Boston Dynamics.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Boston Dynamics have partnered in a drive to deliver data analysis “at the edge” by integrating the latter’s Spot mobile robot with AI and hybrid cloud innovation from IBM. Spot, transformed into an intelligent, roaming edge device, has begun conducting autonomous inspections at National Grid (NYSE: NGG) sites. (IBM Newsroom)

An IBM survey found that though an overwhelming 83% of manufacturers agree that industrial automation would be beneficial for their businesses, they are held back from implementing these solutions because of limitations of edge and IoT devices.

A robotic dog is the new AI-enabled ‘edge’ device

However, AI-driven robotics such as Spot that collect data in real time and perform analysis at the edge can deliver powerful advantages. These include improved safety of workers, better maintenance productivity and optimization of field operations.

Spot has been integrated with an advanced AI layer of actionable intelligence from IBM. The robotic dog is now under field trials at National Grid sites for the use of edge processing to detect issues or failures immediately, and to notify maintenance staff before it completes its inspection round.

“Forward-thinking industrial companies like National Grid are already using mobile robots as a tool for gathering massive amounts of equipment data in a highly reliable, repeatable way that collaborates with human operators,” IBM said in a statement. “IBM brings the analytics and AI to interpret data in near real-time and drive action through dashboards and integration with an enterprise asset management (EAM) system.”

Related Story: Boston Dynamics’ ‘Spot’ Robot To Work On Construction Sites