Social distancing is the way of life at the moment because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities are struggling to enforce it as people keep on finding newer ways of maintaining that much-needed social contact. Authorities had no choice but to get creative and creative they did get. We are witnessing a number of authorities employing the use of robots for implementing social distancing and one such use involves Spot by Boston Dynamics.
Robots are safe from the risk of contaminating others or getting themselves contaminated. This makes them quite an effective and efficient tool for implementing social distancing. The use of Spot by Boston Dynamics has been spotted (we are not even sorry about this) in Singapore. Authorities are relying on Spot to make sure that park-goers are maintaining safe distances from one another.
A Spot unit is all set to roam the city’s Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park where it will be broadcasting messages that are intended to remind people about social distancing. The process will be carried out for two weeks as a trial after which authorities might even deploy several Spot units. The robot will not be violating the privacy of visitors despite being equipped with cameras. National Parks Board of Singapore said that the cameras will only be used to make an approximation of a number of visitors.
Spot is remotely controlled and comes equipped with built-in sensors to prevent collisions. The robot will also have a guide thus avoiding any accidents from taking place. The reason for using Spot is to keep the number of staff minimal during this COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities have also placed signs throughout the park requesting the people to not disturb the robots.
Because of the coronavirus, robot makers all over the world have an opportunity to come up with new means of deploying their creations. We have already witnessed robots being used in hospitals and for delivering groceries. Let’s see what the future holds for these robots.
