ConstructionFour-legged inspection robot

Spot

Name: Spot
Brand: Boston Dynamics

Spot is a four-legged walking robot. Companies use it to walk around factories and plants and collect readings with cameras and sensors, either steered by a person or running set routes on its own. Boston Dynamics Spot product page

Stage 4 of 5

Paying customers

Which rule placed it

Evidence: Independently reported
Human help: Not disclosed
Last milestone: 8 April 2026

01Can I get it?

Yes, in places

Where it works today: Sold to businesses and some police agencies; Boston Dynamics says it works at hundreds of sites around the world, mostly factories and industrial plants. Boston Dynamics blog, updated 21 Jan 2026
Published price: $74,500 for the basic Spot Explorer kit (2020 launch price); the company now asks buyers to contact sales as of 16 June 2020 VentureBeat, 16 June 2020
Human help: A person can drive Spot by remote control, or it can run set routes on its own. Boston Dynamics Spot product page

02Track record

What has actually happened

Every milestone is dated and links to the page it comes from. Lines marked company-reported rest on the maker's own word.

8 April 2026
Paying customers · sets the stage
Wichita, Kansas, city council approved buying one Spot robot for police bomb-squad work, at an estimated cost of about $330,000.
NBC Palm Springs (CNN Newsource), 8 Apr 2026
21 Jan 2026
Paying customers · sets the stage
Boston Dynamics said it had deployed more than 2,000 Spot and Stretch (warehouse) robots in total, and released a software update that adds security patrols.
The Robot Report, 21 Jan 2026Company-reported
21 June 2021
Funding
Hyundai Motor Group completed its purchase of an 80% stake in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank, in a deal that valued the company at $1.1 billion.
TechCrunch, 21 June 2021
22 April 2021
Setback
New York City police ended their $94,000 contract for a Spot robot (nicknamed "Digidog") early, after public criticism.
TechXplore (AFP), Apr 2021
16 June 2020
On sale · sets the stage
Spot went on general sale to US businesses at $74,500. Before that, more than 150 had been placed with companies and labs through a lease-only early program.
VentureBeat, 16 June 2020Company-reported
25 Sept 2019
Pilot
Boston Dynamics began offering Spot to a small group of chosen early business customers, picked for having a practical use for it.
MIT Technology Review, 25 Sept 2019Company-reported

03Safety and incidents

What has gone wrong

No crashes, recalls or regulator reports in our sources. That is not proof none happened; we add them when a regulator or trusted outlet reports one.

On video

What it looks like, at stage 4

Videos from the maker show the robot at its best. The stage comes from the dated record above, not from what a video shows.

Maker's video · 30 Sept 2026Inside the Robotics Race | Boston Dynamics x Hyundai Motor Group x Bloomberg Media Studios

Maker's video · 22 July 2026Spot at Mariana Minerals | Boston Dynamics

Maker's video · 14 July 2026Going the Extra Mile with Spot | Boston Dynamics

Maker's video · 8 July 2026Spot at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners | Boston Dynamics

Maker's video · 29 June 2026Celebrating Soccer | Boston Dynamics

Every robot video

How we placed it

The rule, not an opinion

Stages are worked out by published rules from the dated milestones above. We never rate robots, and no maker can pay to change a stage.

5
Regulator-cleared or mass market
A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.
4
Paying customersThis robot
Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.
Placed by: Wichita, Kansas, city council approved buying one Spot robot for police bomb-squad work, at an estimated cost of about $330,000 (8 April 2026); Boston Dynamics said it had deployed more than 2,000 Spot and Stretch (warehouse) robots in total, and released a software update that adds security patrols (21 Jan 2026).
3
Pilot
Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.
2
Pre-orders
Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.
1
Demo only
Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.

What we couldn't confirm. The 2,000-robot figure combines Spot with the Stretch warehouse robot; the sources found give no Spot-only count.

Sources

Cite this page

Robotics Verdict. “Spot (Boston Dynamics): how far has it got?” roboticsverdict.com/robots/boston-dynamics-spot. Checked 19 October 2026.