By Sohaib Shams
A San Francisco robotics startup is paying people $20 an hour to walk four-legged robots through city streets, aiming to improve the machines’ autonomous navigation capabilities.
Dimensional, based in the Dogpatch district, posted a job advertisement seeking operators for shifts of four to six hours. The robots, manufactured by Chinese firm Unitree and costing about $2,000 each, are controlled via a handheld remote or phone app. No prior experience with dogs or robots is required, though applicants must be comfortable handling equipment weighing 15 kilograms (33 pounds). If a robot overheats or malfunctions, the handler is expected to carry it back to the office.
Data collection for AI development
The walks serve a broader purpose: the human operators help train artificial intelligence systems to control robots in unpredictable real-world environments. Dimensional is developing an open-source operating system designed to let AI agents operate various robots using natural-language instructions, with the long-term goal of enabling autonomous robots to perform physical tasks such as food delivery, construction work, or factory operations.
“Humans are still needed in the loop,” founder Stash Pomichter said. He said data collected during the walks would improve how the robots perform in real-world conditions. The company currently operates more than 100 robot dogs and 50 humanoid robots built by manufacturers in the United States, China, and Germany.
