| | | |

Spot at Ontario Power Generation

Automating Circuit Breaker Tripping and Racking

September 14, 2023

There are an estimated 30,000 instances of arc flash each year in the United States alone, and one to two fatalities occur daily in North America. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has five Boston Dynamics’ Spot robots deployed throughout their Enterprise Innovation division.

In 2022, the team sought to see if Spot’s dexterous arm could be used to assist in tripping and racking out a 600 volt breaker—an activity that is high risk for arc flash. Now, Boston Dynamics engineers have taken this application to the next level by fully automating the procedure.

Spot can perform the entire operation autonomously, with a human issuing high level commands safely out of harm’s way.

More Information

Spot

Related Story

What’s New in Spot Release 3.3
Spot at Ontario Power Generation

Lights, Camera, Sensing! The industry standard for dangerous and routine autonomous inspections just got better, now with a brand new set of features and hardware.

Boston Dynamics announces brand new features and hardware for Spot, an industry standard for dangerous and routine autonomous inspections. Critical industrial tasks like thermal monitoring, acoustic leak detection, and gauge reading are made easier through our automated inspection solutions.

Related Articles


Latest Articles

  • Industry Insights: February 2025 – Navigating Economic Uncertainty

    March 26, 2025 As we enter 2025, Canadian industries are facing a rapidly shifting economic landscape shaped by fluctuating trade policies, rising costs, and ongoing supply chain disruptions. From industrial manufacturing to technology and energy, businesses are adjusting their strategies to remain competitive in the face of uncertainty. Despite economic pressures, Canada’s industrial sectors are… Read More…

  • Giving Lens Cleaning Cloths a Robotic Hand

    March 24, 2025 Robotic automation for textile processing Cleaning cloths may not be the first thing people notice when buying a new pair of glasses. Yet, these items are often the result of sophisticated printing and decorative processes which, to this day, remain largely manual. Here’s how Italian startup, Roboprint, partnered with TM Robotics, the… Read More…


Featured Article

Revolutionizing Material Movement with Autonomous Mobile Robots

Revolutionizing Material Movement with Autonomous Mobile Robots

In today’s fast-paced manufacturing and logistics industries, the need for efficient and flexible material movement solutions has never been greater. Traditional methods like conveyor systems, forklifts, and manual pushcarts have served us well, but they come with limitations.

That’s why Omron is thrilled to announce the launch of their game-changing MD Series of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). Read more


Products