Ghost Robotics Adds an Arm to its Rugged Vision 60 Quadruped

Ghost Robotics is today announcing a major upgrade for their Vision 60 quadruped: an arm. Ghost, a company which originated at the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania specializes in exceptionally rugged quadrupeds, and while many of its customers use its robots for public safety and disaster relief it also provides robots to the United States military, which has very specific needs when it comes to keeping humans out of danger.

In that context, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Ghost’s robots may sometimes be used to carry weapons and despite the proliferation of robots in many roles in the Ukraine war, the idea of a legged robot carrying a weapon is not a comfortable one for many people. IEEE Spectrum spoke with Ghost co-founder and current CEO Gavin Kenneally to learn more about the new arm, and to get his viewpoint on selling robots to the military.

The Vision 60’s new arm has six degrees of freedom.

Robots for the Military

Ghost robotics initially made a name for itself with its very notable early work with the Minitaur direct-drive quadruped in 2016. The company also made headlines in late 2021,when a now-deleted post on Twitter (now X) went viral because it included a photograph of one of Ghost’s Vision 60 quadrupeds with a rifle mounted on its back.

That picture resulted in a very strong reaction although as IEEE Spectrum reported at the time, robots with guns affixed to them wasn’t new: To mention one early example, the U.S. military had already deployed weapons on mobile robots in Iraq in 2007.

Ghost Robotics Adds a Robotic Arm to Its Vision 60

Ghost Robotics, known for its agile and robust quadrupedal robots, has added a robotic arm to its Vision 60 model. This addition significantly expands the robot’s capabilities, moving it beyond simple reconnaissance and into the realm of mobile manipulation.

“The Vision 60 has historically been used as a sensor platform,” says Sarah Kenneally of Ghost Robotics, “but there are ofen obstacles – doors, objects to move – or situations where you need the robot to interact with its environment, like taking a sample. The ability to do all of that, this mobile manipulation, has been hugely valuable for our customers.”

Interestingly, customers are finding even more uses for the arm. “We’ve seen customers using the arm as a sensor boom, which we hadn’t initially planned for,” Kenneally explains. While the Vision 60 already has several cameras, they offer a perspective similar to a medium-sized dog. The arm provides a more human-like viewpoint, allowing the robot to look around corners and over objects without exposing the entire system.

Ghost Robotics didn’t want to design an arm from scratch and initially tested commercially available options. Though, these arms couldn’t withstand the demanding conditions the Vision 60 routinely faces. “We needed an arm as durable as the rest of the robot, capable of handling the intense rigors of our customers’ operations,” says Kenneally.”We actually consider the arm a fifth leg, integrating it into the robot’s whole-body control system.”

The Vision 60 is already known for its ruggedness, making it attractive to customers with challenging requirements, including special forces teams.It boasts over three hours of walking time (or 20 hours of standby), is sealed against dust and sand, and can even survive being submerged in shallow water.It also operates in temperatures ranging from -40°C to 55°C – a significant challenge for robotics. Even if a leg is damaged, it can be quickly replaced in the field.