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JACKSON COUNTY, MI – It may not chase squirrels or play fetch, but this robot dog performs its own unique tricks.
It prevents power outages.
Meet Spot, a robot dog owned by Consumers Energy since 2021. Engineering company Boston Dynamics made the robot and Consumers purchased it for $160,000 to prevent large outages before they happen, said Chris Laird, vice president of electric operations for Consumers Energy.
“Spot pays for himself every single time he finds some anomaly in the system,” Laird said. “We can go fix it without having to have customers out of power.”
Spot conducts critical work for Jackson-based Consumers Energy’s Reliability Roadmap. This is the energy provider’s plan to reduce the number and length of power outages, with a goal to restore power in less than 24 hours.
Spot specializes in preventive maintenance at the Blackstone substation near Jackson. Its “head” holds thermal imaging cameras that detects “hot spots,” or parts of the substation that are hotter than normal, Laird said.
Once it spots a defect, it returns to his “doghouse” and sends an email to Consumers Energy staff. They can then make repairs to the system, he said.
“The advantage of that is he finds it in real time and tells us about it,” Laird said. “We can go schedule and make repairs without there being a customer interruption.”
Spot performs around six missions and inspections a day, each averaging 20 minutes, he said. The robot dog is programmed to run these on its own but staff can control him through a tablet.
Since purchasing the dog, Consumers Energy worked to program Spot and figure out the best location for his services. So far, Spot is the only robot dog the energy provider owns, Laird said.
It was moved to the Blackstone substation earlier this year. On his first mission in April, he found a defect that helped avoid an outage for 3,000 customers. So far this year, Spot has prevented a total of three outages, Laird said.
Information technology product architect Allison Cooper said they’ve taken the robot pup to robotics clubs and meets at nearby schools. It is a hit with the students, especially when it’s in “dance mode,” moving his body around to different poses, she said.
As Consumers Energy continues to learn about Spot, the energy provider will also consider other technologies it can use, in terms of drones and thermal imaging, to prevent outages in the future. However, for now, Spot is doing the work to save time on inspections and keep lights on, Laird said.
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