AI hype? Caltrans robot dog gets credit for solving a crime that never happened
A semi-autonomous robot dog that uses artificial intelligence to perform actions such as walking filmed someone peering through a Caltrans fence — a move that one official equated with catching a thief.
Caltrans has acquired two robot dogs from Massachusetts-based Boston Dynamics; the dogs use sensors and cameras to move around, and transportation workers primarily use them while conducting potentially dangerous inspections of culverts and bridges. At a California Transportation Commission meeting Oct. 16, Dara Wheeler, the acting chief data and artificial intelligence officer at Caltrans, summoned one of the robot dogs to stomp up to the dais as many in the crowd tittered and pulled out their phones for photos.
Wheeler told the commissioners that her robot “friend” had helped fight crime.
“We piloted Spot” — the name given to the robot — “at one of the Southern California maintenance stations that was continuing to be hit with copper wire theft,” Wheeler said. “His role there was to provide after-hours security. And I’m happy to announce that that research project was a huge success: He actually caught somebody.”
The Sacramento Bee asked Caltrans’ headquarters for further clarification about the robot dog’s reported success. Christopher Clark, a spokesperson for the agency, wrote that Wheeler was referencing “summarized information collected during a separate review to see if (the robot dogs) would be effective in mitigating risks at facilities.”
Clark continued, “Video footage captured sometime between March 8 and September 8, 2024, shows an individual peering through the gates into the yard at a San Bernardino maintenance facility. No crime occurred.”
$142,000 subscription for robot dogs
A Caltrans report described the San Bernardino effort in more detail. Two “Spots,” the type of robot made by Boston Dynamics, were outfitted with a security “PupPack” made by Asylon Robotics. Boston Dynamics markets its robots as a tool for hazardous inspections, industrial automation, site mapping and disaster response; the Asylon add-ons focus on making the dog more like an uncanny security camera that patrols and weighs more than 70 pounds.
The Caltrans report says, “The Asylon system cost roughly $142,000 to deploy two DroneDogs at (the shop) 112 hours a week for six months. The annual subscription rates are lower for longer terms, and Asylon has made their service more affordable since the start of this project. Based on recent information, one human guard cost $110,000 annually to hire for Shop 8.”
The report notes, however, that the security “dogs” are not fully autonomous; they still had to be operated by a paid human.
That report also contains a description of another incident captured by the robot: “At approximately 2142 local time this evening, our team was conducting a routine patrol when they observed a male individual roaming the yard. We continued to observe the individual as he approached and entered multiple trucks and toolboxes; however, he did not appear to break anything nor take anything from the trucks or toolboxes. Furthermore, he made no effort to hide from the robot as we followed him around the yard, and we also observed him going back and shutting previously opened toolboxes. We could also see a badge hanging off his waist.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "AI hype? Caltrans robot dog gets credit for solving a crime that never happened."
