Rise of the police robots
History has time and again taught us that, science fiction is only a fantasy until science makes it a reality. In the 1940s Isaac Asimov, a prolific science fiction writer wrote about a future where robots are a part of the human world. Similarly, in a sci-fi film, Robocop made more than 30 years ago, a robot is built-up in order to solve an unprecedented crime problem in dystopian crime-ridden Detroit. Today science fiction has become a reality. Police in different parts of the world are using robots for law enforcement and first, ever robotic police officers have become deployed across China, Dubai and Hyderabad in India.
Dubai Police introduced its first robot police officer on May 24
last year. Wearing a police cap and moving on wheels, the robot features a
computer touch-screen on its chest that can be used to report a crime or inquire about speeding tickets. At 5ft 5in tall and weighing 100 kg, it can speak six languages and is designed to read facial expressions. The UAE has big plans for the future. By 2030 it wants robots to make up 25 per cent of its police force, including fully functioning androids capable of chasing down offenders and making arrests.
Hyderabad has launched the country’s first smart policing robot called the smart Robocop. The robot has capabilities to move, recognise people, take complaints, detect bombs, identify suspects, interact with people and answer to queries. It is equipped with cameras and has an array of sensors connected to GPS in its beta version. It has been developed by H-Bots Robotics, a Hyderabad-based robotics technology company.
In Zhengzhou, China, Police robots that look like armless Daleks roam the high-speed train station, they use facial-recognition software to help officers identify suspects, interact with customers and answer their questions. At Beijing’s Tiananmen Square stun gun-wielding robots patrol crowds of tourists. The robots negotiate their own path along designated routes, and an officer monitoring the bot remotely controls the stun guns.
Kinshasa, the Republic of Congo in the year 2013, in an effort to enforce traffic rules and reduce road accidents, installed giant solar-powered robots, at busy intersections which controls traffic with arms that signal red and green flags and ushers pedestrians safely across roads. The robots are also equipped with surveillance cameras which send footage of reckless driving to the police.
Ford Motors is reported to have filed a patent for a robot-controlled autonomous car that would use artificial intelligence to issue speeding tickets from roadside hiding spots. The robot would be able to detect violations independently on its own or by connecting to the roadside surveillance cameras.
Robots like humans have also perpetrated crimes and have been arrested for committing them. On August 18, 1982, a robot called DC-2 was the first robot ever to be taken into custody by the Beverly Hills Police Department for illegally distributing flyers on North Beverly Drive. In Russia, an activist robot called Promobot was arrested for taking part in a political rally in support of Russian parliamentary candidate Valery Kalachev in Moscow. Conversely, robots have
also helped police in arresting criminals in several instances. In May this
year, a man was arrested in Berlin for allegedly beating up his girlfriend and later firing shots at her vehicle.
Full story at site
History has time and again taught us that, science fiction is only a fantasy until science makes it a reality. In the 1940s Isaac Asimov, a prolific science fiction writer wrote about a future where robots are a part of the human world. Similarly, in a sci-fi film, Robocop made more than 30 years ago, a robot is built-up in order to solve an unprecedented crime problem in dystopian crime-ridden Detroit. Today science fiction has become a reality. Police in different parts of the world are using robots for law enforcement and first, ever robotic police officers have become deployed across China, Dubai and Hyderabad in India.
Dubai Police introduced its first robot police officer on May 24
last year. Wearing a police cap and moving on wheels, the robot features a
computer touch-screen on its chest that can be used to report a crime or inquire about speeding tickets. At 5ft 5in tall and weighing 100 kg, it can speak six languages and is designed to read facial expressions. The UAE has big plans for the future. By 2030 it wants robots to make up 25 per cent of its police force, including fully functioning androids capable of chasing down offenders and making arrests.
Hyderabad has launched the country’s first smart policing robot called the smart Robocop. The robot has capabilities to move, recognise people, take complaints, detect bombs, identify suspects, interact with people and answer to queries. It is equipped with cameras and has an array of sensors connected to GPS in its beta version. It has been developed by H-Bots Robotics, a Hyderabad-based robotics technology company.
In Zhengzhou, China, Police robots that look like armless Daleks roam the high-speed train station, they use facial-recognition software to help officers identify suspects, interact with customers and answer their questions. At Beijing’s Tiananmen Square stun gun-wielding robots patrol crowds of tourists. The robots negotiate their own path along designated routes, and an officer monitoring the bot remotely controls the stun guns.
Kinshasa, the Republic of Congo in the year 2013, in an effort to enforce traffic rules and reduce road accidents, installed giant solar-powered robots, at busy intersections which controls traffic with arms that signal red and green flags and ushers pedestrians safely across roads. The robots are also equipped with surveillance cameras which send footage of reckless driving to the police.
Ford Motors is reported to have filed a patent for a robot-controlled autonomous car that would use artificial intelligence to issue speeding tickets from roadside hiding spots. The robot would be able to detect violations independently on its own or by connecting to the roadside surveillance cameras.
Robots like humans have also perpetrated crimes and have been arrested for committing them. On August 18, 1982, a robot called DC-2 was the first robot ever to be taken into custody by the Beverly Hills Police Department for illegally distributing flyers on North Beverly Drive. In Russia, an activist robot called Promobot was arrested for taking part in a political rally in support of Russian parliamentary candidate Valery Kalachev in Moscow. Conversely, robots have
also helped police in arresting criminals in several instances. In May this
year, a man was arrested in Berlin for allegedly beating up his girlfriend and later firing shots at her vehicle.
Full story at site