Robot Dog Review: More Falls Than Features - Is It Worth $1200?

Okay, so I got my hands on the Hengbot Sirius, a $1,200 robot dog. You might be thinking, "Why a robot dog?" Well, I'm always curious about the latest tech, and this one promised some AI smarts. It's not the first robot dog on the block; we've seen them from Sony, Xiaomi, and even going way back to the "Gaylord the Pup" in the 60s (yes, really!). The claim to fame? This one uses large language models (LLMs), similar to what powers ChatGPT, to understand voice commands.

The idea is cool – you can tell it to sit, shake, or even "pee" (though I'm not sure why you'd want that!). It's activated by saying, "Hey, Sirius." However, there's a catch: it needs Wi-Fi to work. No onboard processing here. Also, be careful not to confuse it with your iPhone's Siri – things could get weird. I, unfortunately, had trouble connecting it to Wi-Fi, so I couldn't test the voice commands myself.

Walking? Not So Much

While the voice command demo looked okay (not amazing, but not terrible either), the real problem is its clumsiness. This thing falls. A lot. And unlike a real dog, it can't get itself back up. I spent more time rescuing it from its own stumbles than actually playing with it. If you ask me, I have enough personal problems - don't need a robot to increase it!

Using the included game controller, I tried to show it off around the office, but it just kept tripping and flopping over. Real dogs are way better at walking! On the plus side, the actuators that move it are pretty neat and do a decent job of mimicking real dog movements. When it's not face-planting, you can use the controller to make it jump or do silly things like sit and meow. Cute, I guess.

Uncanny Valley Vibes

There's something a little creepy about Sirius. Maybe it's the single robot eye. And unlike some other robot dogs, it can't follow you around, even though it can track your face with its camera. I think a robot dog that could follow you on walks would be much more appealing.

Honestly, I'm not sure who this robot dog is for. It's not quite a fun toy, and it's not a super useful tool. It's somewhere in between, but doesn't really nail either. Maybe it's for someone who wants an AI-programmable companion, but doesn't want to train a real dog. If you are one of those... I have no idea.