Case Study: The Most Realistic and Lovable Robot Dog is Here

“The happiness quotient is increasing at start-ups and decreasing at corporations,” says Valerie Green, CEO of Office Pup. “We see this trend in every major industry because large corporations simply do not know how to adapt to the millennial culture.” Green is a veteran of various corporations where employees were often subject to strictures like tight dress codes and timed meetings. Most detrimentally, corporate policies often prohibited furry companions.

Green made the move to start-ups 10 years ago, where she has been greeted by a face-licking, furry friend almost daily. “The biggest difference I see in the quality of life at start-ups and large companies is the presence of dogs.” She tells me that when she was at General Electric, she suggested they allow office dogs, so they brought in the Sony Aibo. Management said the robot dog was a good middle ground: it would be a loyal, responsive companion, with the ability to “shake” and “go to your charger,” but would not take up employee working time between walks and feeding time.

Although the Aibo was adorable with its responsive yaps, head tilting, and arthritic mechanical running, Green and many of her coworkers felt that the cold-to-the-touch robot simply couldn’t replace the clumsy and cuddly nature of a real dog.

Green set out to achieve the unfathomable: bring office dogs to Corporate America. Green recruited a team of mechanical engineers and designers and launched her own company, Office Pup. The goal of the team was to essentially reverse-engineer a robot dog to look, feel, and act like a real dog.

Jessica Das, lead engineer of the project, “DogX,” started by designing precise mechanical structures. “We essentially needed the dog to be able to complete a series of organic motions like run, jump, and gently collapse, as a puppy might into the lap of its owner,” Das said.

After designing the mechanics of the dog and its sensory response features, the next big concern—and biggest differentiator from past robodogs—was the overall aesthetic. The robodog would need to feel soft to the touch and “give you that squishy feeling you get when you look at a real dog,” said Das. The designers created imploring round eyes, skin and fur that bunches up for belly rubs, and a nose that feels wet to the touch. They also designed paws that could withstand wear and a tail with a full range of movement to express emotions.

Das had worked with Xometry at her former company, so she knew Xometry could be Office Pup’s all-in-one custom parts manufacturer and provide advice on engineering materials, manufacturing, and stress analysis. Using the engineering team’sknowledge from helping customers develop medical devices, crash test dummies, and prosthetics, Xometry recommended the DogX team CNC machine titanium for the skeletal structure, making it lightweight and very durable. To solve the need for lifelike movement, the team created ball joints and connecting bushings from PTFE impregnated acetyl. The end result was a nearly indestructible robodog that could fall ten feet with no damage and move with the endearing characteristics attributed to man’s best friend.

DogX is the perfect solution to an increasingly work-centric culture. It has fur that is soft to the touch and moves in patterns that simulate the feel of a real dog.

To many, a loyal companion like DogX is the most effective work destresser. In environments where meetings and incoming emails are nonstop, activities like meditation, talking a walk, or reading non-work-related material are effective but time-consuming remedies. DogX, on the other hand, gives workers a way to relax quickly.