VOA Special English
Real Dog Takes On Robot Dog
    By Christopher Jones-Cruise
    2016/3/5

    Many people are watching a video showing a real dog barking at a robot dog.

    The robot was made by Boston Dynamics, which is owned by the Internet search company Google. Like most of the company's robots, it was designed for military use. But the military did not accept it, so Google is now showing it to the public.

    In the video, the robot dog plays with Alex -- a real dog reportedly owned by Andy Rubin, who helped create the mobile operating system Android. Rubin now heads a company called Playground Global.

    Alex the dog barks at Spot, the robotic dog. Spot is a creation of the robotics company Boston Dynamics.
    Alex the dog barks at Spot, the robotic dog. Spot is a creation of the robotics company Boston Dynamics.
    The robot weighs 75 kilograms -- ten times more than Alex. But Alex does not run away from the robot. The video shows him barking at the robot and preparing to attack it. The person controlling the robot directed it to move away from Alex. But this only seemed to make Alex bark louder.
     
    I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.

    VOANews reported on this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

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    Words in This Story

    bark – v. to make a short, loud sound

    mobile - adj. easy to carry around or move