VIDEO: Flame-Throwing robot dog now available for under $10,000. Want to buy one?
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Wondering when you could order the flame-throwing robot that Ohio-based Throwflame first announced last summer? Well, the day has finally arrived. The Thermonator, which Throwflame calls “the first flame-throwing robot dog,” is now available for purchase. The price? Fueled by gasoline or napalm, the Thermonator is a quadruped robot with an ARC flame-thrower mounted on its back, priced at $9,420. It features a one-hour battery life, a flame-throwing range of 9 meters, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for remote control via a smartphone.
It also includes a LIDAR sensor for mapping and obstacle avoidance, laser targeting, and first-person view (FPV) navigation via an integrated camera. The product appears to integrate a version of the Unitree Go2 quadruped robot, which is sold separately for $1,600 in its basic configuration. The company lists potential applications of the new robot as “forest fire control and prevention,” “agricultural management,” “ecological conservation,” “snow and ice removal,” and “entertainment and sound effects.” But above all, it ignites things in a variety of real-world scenarios.
In 2018, Elon Musk made headlines by offering an official Boring Company flamethrower, reportedly selling 10,000 units in 48 hours. This sparked some controversy because flamethrowers can also function as weapons or potentially start forest fires. Flamethrowers are not specifically regulated in 48 states of the US, though product liability and criminal laws may still be applied to their use and sale. They are not considered firearms by federal agencies. There are specific restrictions in Maryland, where flamethrowers require a federal firearms license to be possessed, and in California, where the range of flamethrowers cannot exceed 3 meters. Nevertheless, to state the obvious, flamethrowers can easily burn things and people, starting fires and wreaking havoc if not used safely. Consequently, the Thermonator might be a Christmas gift you should skip for little Johnny this year.
