Drunk man attacks one of the world’s first robot policemen
In the film RoboCop, the cyborg policeman is an unstoppable technological avenger who strikes terror into criminals.
The real version seems to be a little more vulnerable – as a drunk man was arrested for attacking and knocking over one of the world’s first robotic policemen.
The 21-stone Knightscope robot is unarmed – and actually doesn’t have any arms – so it was unable to retaliate when Jason Sylvain, 41, allegedly knocked it over.
The droid – known as K5 – patrolled a parking lot, armed with a camera – and so police were able to identify and arrest Sylvain based on the data it captured.
Meet K-5 —the droid taken down by an alleged drunk man last week. Don't worry, he's back on patrol details @abc7newsbayarea at 11 pic.twitter.com/0qthDHONQq
— Tiffany Wilson (@TWilsonTV) April 25, 2017
The robots are able to spot suspicious behaviour, are able to deliver spoken warnings, and alert controllers with a live video feed.
They patrol on pre-programmed paths, and steer using a combination of GPS, surveillance camera images and LIDAR – laser-radar.
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They also have hi-tech ‘extras’ such as being able to rapidly monitor and record car number plates at a rate of up to 300 per minute.
Local man Eamonn Callon said, ‘I think this is a pretty pathetic incident because it shows how spineless the drunk guys in Silicon Valley really are because they attack a victim who doesn’t even have any arms.
Police say that Sylvain now faces prowling and public intoxication charges.