this is the first step.
Don't you just love technology.
Roboguard starts to curb Californian crime
Robot security guards that can predict where criminals will strike before heading out on patrol are roaming the streets of Silicon Valley.
The Knightscope K5 is about 5ft tall, looks rather like a Dalek, and is being marketed as a real-life “robocop”. It is equipped with a host of cameras and sensors, including a thermal imaging system, the ability to check 300 car numberplates a minute, and a sense of smell. It navigates using lasers and GPS and is designed to operate autonomously.
By processing data from government, business and social media sources, the K5 is supposed to predict the likelihood of a crime occurring in a given area. It can use that information to decide whether to raise an alarm if it encounters something suspicious. The only potential problem is that it cannot intervene physically in an incident. Four of the machines have been deployed to guard Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus — the first time the robots have been sent on a real mission. Like airborne drones, the K5 is being developed to take on tasks considered too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans.
However, it seems it will not take a criminal mastermind to defeat it — a kerb will do, according to one report of a demonstration to the press. Rachel Metz, a reporter for MIT Technology Review, said: “I noticed that a K5 in the distance had somehow toppled over the edge of the sidewalk onto the parking-lot asphalt several inches below. A couple of Knightscope folks were needed to pull it upright.”
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/worl ... 268334.ece
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Stairs are still a problem...............
