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Japanese scientists developing cute, autonomously swarming robo dogs for anti-bear patrols [Video]

Hacchan is a mecha version of an Akita Inu hunting dog.

Along with a bit of chilly autumn crispiness, there’s also some apprehension in the air in Japan. That’s because we’re getting to the part of the year when bears start bulking up in preparation of hibernating, which means they’ll be growing bolder and roaming wider in their search for stuff to eat,

With bear attacks having become a topic of heightened concern in recent years, and northern Japan having the country’s largest bear populations, earlier this year Akita Prefectural University began accepting proposals from faculty and students for its Bear-Tech Solution Contest. A total of 41 entries were submitted, and on October 13 a selection of the most promising ideas were presented in Akita City, including an idea for a surprisingly cute anti-bear robot dog.

Called Hacchan, the robot named after Japan’s most famous Akita Inu, Hachiko. Rather than hang out around Shibuya Station waiting for its master to come home and munching on grilled chicken handouts, though, Hacchan’s behavior is inspired by the Akita Inu hunting dogs that would accompany Akita Prefecture’s traditional huntsmen into the woods in days of yore.

▼ Hacchan can be seen at the point in the video queued here.

However, unlike actual hunting dogs, Hacchan has been created with a nonviolent outcome in mind. The quadrupedal robot is meant for deployment on the edge of farms or towns, and when its camera detects a bear, it uses an internal speaker to play the sound of a dog barking loudly in order to scare the animal off and make it retreat back into the woods. By sharing its location data, Hacchan can even call other units to the scene, creating a pack of robo dogs for a more intimidating presence, while also building a database of bear sighting and behavior to help the robots efficiently and autonomously patrol the outer edges of the community.

Researcher Masayuki Yoshida of the university’s Regional Collaboration and Research Promotion Center, who’s leading the development of Hacchan, says they hope to begin field testing the robot dogs before the end of the year.

Source: FNN Prime Online/Akita TV via Yahoo! Japan News, Akita Prefectural University, Yomiuri Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
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