Payload: Boston Dynamics Spot CORE I/O

What is SPOT Core I/O?

A payload serves to give a robotic platform a wider range of connection possibilities. And the Boston Dynamics SPOT Core I/O has a Jetson Xavier NX processor with a GPU for handling all the calculations required to operate the various accessories you’re now able to add.

In addition to improving connectivity and computing power, it has a rugged design that delivers high protection against dust and water ingress. In addition, the Spot robot payload promises high data communication security: SSD disk encryption, TLS network encryption, user authentication, etc.

What can I use my Spot robot payload for?

With this Spot robot payload, you get:

• Sufficiently high computing and graphics power to handle video output and data from various sensors
• Configurable inputs and outputs: GPIO, PWM, I2C, etc.
• Numerous communication ports: Ethernet and USB
• Additional connectivity with the optional 5G/LTE antenna
• The possibility to install a laser range finder

New functionalities available

• The CORE I/O can now be connected to a VPN through the Extensions framework.
• Extensions can now generate graphs that indicate historical resource utilization of Docker containers. This can be used to observe potential memory leaks or other resource leaks.
• The Extensions system on the Spot CORE I/O has been modified to automatically reload all Udev rules any time an extension with Udev rules is uploaded or modified. This will eliminate the need to reinsert devices to trigger rules after extension uploads.
• Users can now upload and replace an existing TLS certificate to use for the CORE I/O webserver.
• The CORE I/O Ethernet interface (eth0) is now configurable through the webpage. This page can be used to set IPv4 address, gateway, and DNS servers.
• The CORE I/O webserver now provides the ability to control additional GPIO and PWM functionality. Users can read GPIO inputs, set outputs, and set the pins to PWM mode and configure period and duty cycle.