Robocop it is not, but a security company in Tokyo is hoping that a cross between a dodgem car and the robot R2D2 will soon be helping Japanese companies scare off, or help apprehend, intruders.
Secom, a company better known for supplying human security guards, has developed a six-wheeled surveillance robot which can be either remotely controlled or pre-programmed. It can chase intruders, take high definition video pictures of them, issue loud warnings and release a dense, billowing cloud of smoke to frighten them off.
Secom’s Robot X will either relay live spoken warnings from a security guard in a remote command post, or simply play a pre-recorded message.
A Secom spokesman says it hopes that if the smokescreen does not frighten off the intruder, it will at least confuse them long enough for a human guard to get to the scene. The non-toxic smoke has been developed specially by Secom, but it is not saying what it contains.
Advertisement
Robot X is made from reinforced plastic and is a metre high. Weighing 120 kilograms, it is no pushover. It travels at up to 10 kilometres per hour for up to 24 kilometres on a full battery charge.
Target markets for the droid include airports, ports and hazardous industrial sites, where the robot can either patrol on a pre-programmed route or be controlled over a Wi-Fi link.
But the robot will not be for sale. Secom plans to rent out the robots at 300,000 yen a month ($2700) which is half the cost of hiring a human security guard to do the same job, says the firm.
