The Portland Air National Guard's 142nd Security Forces Squadron became the first Guard unit in the nation to receive a new "robot dog" and plans to test the technology for surveillance and base security operations.

The Oregon-based Guard unit's "Quad-legged Unmanned Ground Vehicle," otherwise known as the Q-UGV, can conduct video surveillance and patrol a fence line without putting airmen in danger. Robot dogs first made an appearance at active-duty bases last year, and the equipment and testing are now trickling down to the Guard.

The 142nd received the Q-UGV at the start of the year, according to the base's public affairs office, and the security forces have started demonstrating the technology to other units throughout the state this past month.

"We've just been testing it by programming in different routes and seeing how the GPS works in our situation here at the base," Tech. Sgt. Jamie Cuniff of the 142nd told ABC's KATU TV station in Portland last month.

"[We're] also putting it through different terrain tests, up and down hills and stairs, seeing how it interacts with vehicles and how vehicles interact with it and the people on the installation," he said.

The Q-UGV, designed by Ghost Robotics and Immersive Wisdom, has a variety of cameras and sensors on board and can climb up rugged terrain as well as high-step over obstacles.

A single charge powers the robot dog for seven hours. It is controlled remotely by a security forces operator on the base, but the plan is to eventually have the Q-UGV set on a pre-programed path to run autonomously.