Rhino is the name of the four-legged robot from Inmotion Robotic in Frankfurt. Customers from industry use it for inspections. The police and military are testing it for reconnaissance and logistics. Militär Aktuell visited Kai Leuze, Managing Director of Inmotion Robotic, at Enforce Tac 2025.
Mr. Leuze, what can your robot do?
Put simply, it is a four-legged friend for the security, defense and industry sectors. It is used for reconnaissance, detection and documentation. Various sensors can be built onto the robot and adapted for different applications. The idea is for emergency services to take a four-legged friend with them in certain situations in order to use it for protection, reconnaissance or micrologistics, for example. It can carry 25 kilograms of weight on its back, allowing it to transport missiles, for example. Its range is twelve kilometers, it can move in difficult terrain, climb stairs, move around in houses and climb inclines of up to 45 degrees. And it runs autonomously according to specific points. You program the mission and say “go”, then it automatically recognizes obstacles, runs around them and arrives at its destination.
So a drone on the ground?
In a transparent environment with drones, it is becoming increasingly difficult to transport materials to the emergency services. I always say: the air is getting thinner, drones are becoming increasingly difficult to use. But our robots are difficult to detect on the ground. They are also given a skin so that they are not recognizable in multispectral light.
Who builds the robot?
It is a cooperation with Deep Robotics. Deep Robotics designed the body and we do everything concerning the control system, software and sensors. We build everything that is mission-critical in Germany. The aim is for the entire robot to be built in Germany from next year.
How did you come up with the idea of working with a four-legged robot?
I worked in the security industry for 30 years and it was always about how to optimize and automate things. The first idea was a remote-controlled camera on the ground. Then more and more was added.
Where is the “dog” already in use?
We have customers from industry. Initial tests are also underway with the police and military. But these are just tests and no one is using it in real life yet. This is because the technology has been a little too expensive so far. Comparable systems from competitors cost around half a million euros. That’s reasonable for a test, but usually too much for larger applications. Our system only costs a third of that (note: 170,000 euros) and we see more areas of application.
What use cases are there in the industry?
Energy producers use our robot to inspect a plant, for predictive maintenance, to detect faults before they happen. The robot replaces engineers who go out and check whether everything is in order. Instead, the robot goes on a daily inspection and records the data. It is also used on the construction site to document the progress of construction work on a daily basis and compare it with the original plan.
What questions do authorities, for example here at Enforce Tac, ask you about your product?
It’s mostly about reliability, control, what tasks it can handle, how it deals with difficult terrain, what about data security. Many people are thinking about using robots like this, because the bottom line is that everyone is short of people. In future, I will be able to train an operator to control up to ten such robots.
Why does the robot actually have four feet?
The quadruped is a solid system that nature has given us. It may look like a dog, but in reality it is just a robot with four legs.
Here to our drone topic area with all the latest news on the subject.
