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Building You: 'Smart dogs' moving to new Smart Factory at WSU

Author: Lily Wu, KWCH Anchor/Reporter

 

 WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A pair of robots will be relocating to the new Smart Factory on the Innovation Campus of Wichita State University in 2021.

 

For about a year, two smart dogs, known as Spot and Rivet, have been residing at the National Institute for Aviation Research inside the John Bardo Center.

 

The dogs currently belong to Deloitte Consulting.

 

Each dog is 43 inches in length, 70 pounds in weight, and have multiple cameras on its body.

 

“Underneath is actually pretty sophisticated set of machinery that you can use for many different use cases in industry, such as inspecting construction sites. You can send it around in the factory at night to check for inventory locations. There’s just a myriad of opportunities and we’re just at the cutting edge of figuring out everything that is possible to use with technology,” Michael Schlotterbeck, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting.

 

In September, Deloitte and Wichita State University announced the launch of The Smart Factory @ Wichita.

 

In the news release, it said The Smart Factory is, “a groundbreaking and immersive experiential learning environment that will accelerate the future of manufacturing as innovation and new technologies continue to reshape operations and the modern enterprise.”

 

The pair of robotic dogs will be relocating to The Smart Factory in the spring of 2021.