Even robots get stage fright! Watch the horrifying moment a robot dog COLLAPSES on stage during America's Got Talent audition

Daily Mail​

16-06-2025

Boston Dynamics' Spot robot dogs wowed the America's Got Talent judges with their dancing in an incredible audition.
Five of the 35kg robots showed off their moves to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now in an incredible feat of engineering.
But it turns out that even robots can get stage fright, as one of the dancing bots collapsed just minutes into the performance.
On social media, commenters joked that the robot must have been 'tired of all the rehearsals'.
Even after one of their members collapsed, the robotic performers continued to strut and sway across the stage without missing a beat for their entire 90-second routine.
And the slip-up didn't hold this unique dance troupe back as the judges swiftly awarded four 'yes' votes, sending them through to the next round of the competition.
Even the usually surly Simon Cowell couldn't hold back a smile as he said: 'Can I be honest with you? I don't mean this in a cruel way. It was weirdly better that one of them died.
'Because it showed how difficult this was.'
As Simon Cowell points out, the fact these robots were able to keep dancing despite the loss of a team member points to their impressive design.
Each of the Spot robots has a degree of autonomy over its moves, which lets them avoid any obstacles while still staying as close to the choreography as possible, just like a human dancer would.
In this performance, that technical prowess let the robots dance around their fallen member and navigate the stage with ease.
However, even though the pressure of performance appeared to have gotten to one of the robots, it wasn't down for good.
The onstage representative for the company said: 'We have a saying at Boston Dynamics: build it, break it, fix it.'
And, as if on cue, the fallen robot leapt to its feet and ran to the front of the stage amidst wild cheering from the crowd.
The show's judges were amazed by the performance and gushed over the robots' dance moves.
Howie Mandel said: 'After 20 years, how can we see something we haven't seen on this stage?'
While Melanie B added: 'It's kind of blown my mind a little bit because I've never seen anything like this before and I want to thank you for bringing this to the stage.'
But it wasn't just the judges who were impressed, as social media users rushed to share their amazement.
One excited commenter wrote: 'They could do the halftime show at the Super Bowl. This is awesome!!'
Another added: 'This act was completely different than anything I've seen before on this show. I'm excited to see what they bring on next!'
But not everyone was quite so enthusiastic, as some found the dancing just as creepy as it was impressive.
One commenter wrote: 'Well that was equally entertaining and terrifying at the same time.'
'I'm amazed and creeped out at the same time,' joked another.
One scared commenter chimed in: 'In ten years, we'll be running from these in terror, but yeah cute performance.'
On social media, fans were amazed by the technical prowess of the robotic performance
Some commenters were less impressed, saying the performance was just as creepy as it was entertaining
One scared commenter said that we would be 'running from these in terror' within ten years
But this is not the first time that Boston Dynamics' robot dogs have impressed audiences with their dancing.
In 2021, the robots joined superstar K-pop group BTS to film a music video.
In a blog post at the time Eric Whitman, a Boston Dynamics roboticist said: 'There were a lot of challenges around getting the vision of our choreographer, who's used to dealing with human dancers, into our software.
'Robots have the advantage over humans in that they're very repeatable: Once you get it right, it stays right.
'But they have the disadvantage that you have to tell them every little detail. They don't improvise at all.'
In order to allow Spot to learn complex dance routines, Boston Dynamics has its own 'Choreographer' software.
This software understands Spot's environment and physics and prioritises staying upright before completing the exact dance moves.
If the choreography calls for something that Spot won't be able to complete, then the software instructs the robot to perform the closest possible move without falling over.
This lets choreographers give the robots broad instructions such as 'sway' or 'step' without telling the robot exactly what angle to bend its legs to.
However, costing around $75,000 (£55,000) each, Spot isn't designed to fill out the ranks of dance troupes.
Instead, these robots are primarily designed for inspecting industrial environments like factories or working in places that aren't safe for humans.
Their four-legged design which allows for such creative dancing is intended to allow access areas that wheeled robots can't access.
WHAT IS BOSTON DYNAMICS' SPOT MINI ROBO-DOG?
Boston Dynamics first showed off Spot, the most advanced robot dog ever created, in a video posted in November 2017.
The firm, best known for Atlas, its 5 foot 9 (1.7 metre) humanoid robot, has revealed a new 'lightweight' version of its robot Spot.
The robotic canine was shown trotting around a yard, with the promise that more information from the notoriously secretive firm is 'coming soon'.
'Spot is a small four-legged robot that comfortably fits in an office or home' the firm says on its website.
It weighs 25 kg (55 lb), or 30 kg (66 lb) when you include the robotic arm.
Spot is all-electric and can go for about 90 minutes on a charge, depending on what it is doing, the firm says, boasting 'Spot is the quietest robot we have built.'
Spot was first unveiled in 2016, and a previous version of the mini version of spot with a strange extendable neck has been shown off helping around the house.
In the firm's previous video, the robot is shown walking out of the firm's HQ and into what appears to be a home.
There, it helps load a dishwasher and carries a can to the trash.
It also at one point encounters a dropped banana skin and falls dramatically - but uses its extendable neck to push itself back up.
'Spot is one of the quietest robots we have ever built, the firm says, due to its electric motors.
'It has a variety of sensors, including depth cameras, a solid state gyro (IMU) and proprioception sensors in the limbs.