Boston Dynamics crosses new threshold with door-opening dog

Robotics company releases video of the SpotMini, its four-legged and well-mannered machine

Eight years after it was first revealed to the public, the uncanny gait of Boston Dynamics' quadrupedal robots is still unsettling. But a new video, released by the firm on Monday, shows the company's flagship robot, the SpotMini, crossing a new threshold - literally - as it demonstrates that it can open doors.

The video depicts a SpotMini, a four-legged yellow machine that stands about a metre high, flummoxed by a closed door before a second robot of the same type, equipped with a fifth limb extending from its back, arrives to save the day. The second bot turns the handle, pulls the door open and holds it for the first to walk through, then follows.