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HomeCar CultureDefending the Defender: ‘RoboYogi’ assures dogs don’t do damage

Defending the Defender: ‘RoboYogi’ assures dogs don’t do damage

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It appears that dog owners don’t have to worry about their pets damaging the paint as they climb into and out of their new Land Rover Defenders. 

The British company has revealed “RoboYogi,” a 3D-printed dog paw that the company uses as part of its durability testing to make sure paint can withstand any scratches a real dog might cause to the rear bumper of the new Land Rover Defender.

The device is named after Yogi, a 9-year-old Labrador, identified as the “canine supervisor” for the project.

‘RoboYogi’ was 3D-printed and was based on a real dog’s paw

“The ‘RoboYogi’ paw was used to test the rear bumper’s ability to withstand a dog’s claws scraping the paint before and after dog walks, with results showing it can withstand more than a decade of use by dogs – highlighting how Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles are designed to meet the demands of owners’ lifestyles,” the company said in its news release.

“Yogi the Labrador, a resident at the National Guide Dog Breeding Centre, was tasked with jumping in and out of the new Land Rover Defender boot, with every step recorded by pressure mapping technology. The data allowed the team to benchmark this real-world outdoor scenario against ‘RoboYogi,’ from how a mid-sized dog clambers in and out, to the pressure applied by the claws and the pads on its feet.

Yogi’s paws were used as the model for the creation of the spring-loaded replica used as part of the company’s standard 5,000-cycle abrasion tests. The 3D-printed paw scratches the panel 10 times at random and then adds a side-to-side linear scratch before repeating the process.

The new Land Rover Defender was created with a side-hinged door with a flat rear bumper designed to make it easier for dogs to climb in and out, the company said.

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Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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