Silicon Valley Deploys Crime-Fighting Robots To Patrol The Streets Day and Night
In
the latest development from Silicon Valley, a Palo Alto startup called
Knightscope has developed a fleet of crime-fighting machinery for a
safer tomorrow.
The Knightscope K5 Security Robot has begun
patrolling the streets to fight crime, and these robots have the
capability to see, hear, feel and smell. These robots are cute and
inviting to the public. “We’ve had people go up and hug it, and embrace
it for whatever reason,” said Stacy Stephens, co-founder of the
borderline cartoonishly named Knightscope.
“The first thing that’s
going to happen is the burglar is going to spot the robot. And
unfortunately, criminals are inherently lazy. They’re not looking for
something that’s going to be confrontational, they’re looking for
something that’s going to be an easy target,” Stacy Stephens told CBS
San Francisco.
“They see the robot and maybe they move down to the next place down the street,” she added.
These
five-foot-tall, 300-pound security bots’ control and movements are
based on the same technology that power the new Google Self-Driving
cars. The K5 collects important real-time and on-site data through its
numerous sensors, which is then processed through a predictive analytics
engine. The data is then combined with existing business, government,
and crowdsourced social data sets to determine if there is a concern or
threat in the area. If so, an report is created with an appropriate
alert level and a notification is sent to the community and authorities
through the Knightscope Security Operations Center (KSOC), a browser
based user interface.
The
units upload what they see to a backend security network using
360-degree high-definition and low-light infrared cameras. The security
bots also have a built-in microphone can be used to communicate with
passers bys. The units monitor for various “crime triggers” within a
predefined parameter including the sounds of breaking glass or shouting
etc. Once it is triggered, the bot then captures geo-tags, photos,
video, nearby license plates, facial recognition, timestamps etc. which
can help in solving a crime that was committed.
Malls and office
buildings are also starting to employ the K5 units as security
assistants. Last summer, 24 of these security minders have been deployed
around Silicon Valley on corporate campuses and in data centers, and in
one highly publicized event last May, two K5s patrolled the Stanford
Shopping Center. The K5 is looking for mall cops or at least to act as
an assistant mall cop.
In order to prevent crime by using robots,
CEO Stacey Dean Stephens, a former law enforcement agent, came up with
the idea to construct a predictive network. So far, he and his
co-founder William Li have raised close to $12 million in funding from
Konica Minolta and others to build on this idea.
While Knightscope
doesn’t think its robots will replace mall cops or security guards in
the near future, the company does see them as assistants to human
security teams.
The startup currently rents K5 through Knightscope’s website. The pricing model is also expressed as follows:
“For
your reference, we operate on a Machine-as-a-Service (MaaS) business
model and our preliminary pricing for a well-equipped machine is $4,500
per month for 24/7 operations equating to approximately $6.25 per hour
(!).”
For teenagers and other bullies out there who wish to kick
or push these robots need to be cautious, as they may be shocked to find
these robots can talk back to them, capture their behaviour on film and
notify authorities about their misdeeds.
Hackers Hand Book
WhiteHat Hacking Tutorial
