Watch: Four-legged military robots replace reindeers to draw Santa's sleigh
Boston Dynamics is putting out some robotic cheer this holiday season
It's no longer Rudolf the red nosed reindeer who'll be Santa's favourite. It could now be Rudolf the robotic reindeer.
Google's Boston Dynamics put up the video above, of a female Santa riding off on a sleigh driven by robots called Spot. The smaller, modified versions of the company's more well-known Big Dog, are, like their predecessors, military robots which can cover difficult terrain better. The robots are meant to work as the equivalent of pack mules to carry military supplies.
The robots, which look like they are straight out of a sci-fi film are being put to non-military uses too.
Here is a stripped down version of Spot without reindeer horns:
The tiny robot is kicked around to demonstrate its ability to withstand such assaults. Its agility allows it run indoors and travel better.
Boston Dynamics was acquired by Google in 2014. Before that, the company's robots were funded by the US Department of Defence. The Big Dog robot is the most well-known, and you can see the evolution of the creatures below:
