U.S. Border Patrol is going to the (robot) dogs

Faced with almost 2,000 miles of oftentimes inhospitable terrain to monitor, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has long been a proponent of using advanced technology to replace boots on the ground when possible.

Most recently, the agency has been experimenting with four-legged drones, or Automated Ground Surveillance Vehicles (AGSV) — read: robot dogs — designed by a Philadelphia firm as a way to supplement the duties of its human personnel.

The program is being run out of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). For the last two and a half years, S&T has been working with Ghost Robotics to re-engineer the company’s existing platform for border duty. In a way, the 100-pound robot dog was almost bred for the type of fieldwork the CPB has in mind.

“It is a rugged, quadruped robot,” Ghost Robotics Chief Product Officer Gavin Kenneally said in a DHS blog post. “It traverses all types of natural terrain, including sand, rocks and hills, as well as human-built environments, like stairs. That’s why you want legs and not tracks.”

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