The city of Dubai is known not only for its immense wealth but also for the sky-high technologically advanced buildings. We recently heard of Drone taxis flying over Dubai skyline and only a while later about robocops joining the city police force. Dubai is adding more robots to its already very advanced police force, and this time they are four wheeled.
The robot has been developed by a Singapore-based startup OTSAW Digital, and the company has named the robot as O-R3. Dubai is to become the first city in the world to use O-R3 for regular patrolling, and none of its features are meant to replace the human police officers. The autonomous cars being added to the police fleet are the size of an electric car for kids, but its features are much more advanced. The robot cars are equipped with a powerful 360-degree camera system that scans the faces of all people it comes across. The car patrols along the road or on the footpath to collect biometric data, which is later compared to known criminals and wanted individuals. The patrolling car alerts the police if it spots a suspect who needs to be looked at more closely.
Scanning people from the ground is not all that the robotic police car does. It is also loaded with a drone that can be deployed anytime required, to have an aerial view of any object that it needs to investigate or to follow suspects in places where the car can not reach. The entire system works together to monitor any suspicious activity and reports it back to the police.
When the robot’s battery begins to run low, it can make its way back to the base station on its own and charge itself automatically. The driverless robocar is capable of patrolling at all hours covering more area than is possible for the manned police.
Pretty cool, isn’t it?