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Deployment

Spot at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland

Spot is Boston Dynamics' commercially available quadruped robot for autonomous inspection and reality capture. Carrying laser scanners and 360-degree cameras, it runs repeatable Autowalk missions (record a path once, then execute autonomously with dynamic obstacle avoidance) and is widely used for industrial inspection across energy, utilities, manufacturing and construction; the Scout software manages fleets and missions.

Roughly 1,500+ units are deployed globally (base price ~$74,500). It is distinct from Boston Dynamics' Stretch warehouse case-handling robot (see boston-dynamics-stretch) and the Atlas humanoid (see boston-dynamics-atlas), sharing only the manufacturer.

Spot by Boston Dynamics · Unverified · Quadrupeds

Track Spot at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland

Recent coverage

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National Grid trialled Boston Dynamics Spot robots, operated with Roboverse Reply, at its UK interconnector converter sites, including three days at the North Sea Link converter station in Blyth, Northumberland. The robots were tested in DC, AC and valve hall areas and outdoor compounds, using LiDAR plus visual, thermal and acoustic imaging to find faults. As reported on 2 March 2023 the trial had finished and results were under review; no rollout decision has been found.

Key facts

Country
United Kingdom
Sector
Energy (electricity transmission, interconnectors)
Operator
National Grid (Interconnectors), with Roboverse Reply
Scale
Three-day trial at the Blyth converter site
Outcome
Trial complete, results under review (March 2023); no later decision found

Safety record

No incidents on record for Spot at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Unverifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-10-26
Model
Spot
Company
Boston Dynamics
Location
United Kingdom/Northumberland/North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland
Status
ended
Operator type
customer deployed
Site environment
mixed
First seen
2023-03-02
ID
9c371a52-cb55-4c3b-81c3-de2584b7402b

Timeline

  1. Mar 2023
    First recorded
    Spot first documented operating at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland.
  2. Oct 2026
    Current status: ended
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

Operates worldwide

Spot is deployed globally rather than at a single verified site, so there is no map pin.

Free to use on your site, with a link back to DEPLOY.

Spot operates in North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (1)

  1. Spot the robotic dog sniffs out faults in National Grid's interconnectors · https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/td/spot-the-robotic-dog-sniffs-out-faults-in-national-grids-interconnectors/ · 2023-03-02
Methodology: Unreviewed · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-26

Verification posture

Unreviewed

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-10-26

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: quadruped

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Spot at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland.

Common questions

What is the Spot deployment at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland?
Spot, built by Boston Dynamics, is recorded as a deployment at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland on the DEPLOY registry. Boston Dynamics operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Spot at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland?
Boston Dynamics, the manufacturer of Spot, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Spot deployment at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting March 2, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Is the Spot deployment at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland still active?
As of the most recent verification on the DEPLOY registry, this deployment is no longer operating at this location.
Have there been incidents at the Spot deployment at North Sea Link converter station, Blyth, Northumberland?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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