ROBOT OF THE WEEK: SECURITY DROID FALLS INTO FOUNTAIN
by Hazed
A security bot given the job of patrolling a Washington DC office building has come a cropper. Pictures were shared on the internet this week of the hapless droid, face down in a pool of water (see source links below).
The drowning security robot is a Knightscope K5, which is designed to trundle around “parking lots, corporate campuses and hospitals” monitoring the environment with its video cameras, anomaly detection, live video streaming and real-time notifications capabilities. The company that produces it says it can find its way through “even the most complex environments”.
Clearly not that complex, though, since it was defeated by a water feature with some shallow steps leading down to it.
The company’s response was to reassure the public that this was an isolated incidence, and nobody was hurt. Well, nobody except the poor security droid.
I think we can stop worrying about the Rise of the Robots for the time being…
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/18/knightscope_k5_falls_into_pond/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/07/17/a-security-robot-fell-into-a-water-fountain-at-a-d-c-office-building-and-the-internet-went-wild/
Footnote: this is the same robot that was accused of running over a child last year, as reported in the Star: http://www.ibgames.net/fednews/2016/160724/official05.html
