Photo: Knightscope
Don’t be fooled by its cute appearance and not-so-subtle name – Robby is supposed to be tough and keep bad guys away. Even though it doesn’t look nearly as threatening as the infamous robot dog sporting a weapon, this fully-autonomous machine is very serious about its security guard role.
This is no new robot, and this isn’t the first time it’s making headlines. This machine has been around for some years, and a version of it became the first robotic police officer in Huntington Park, California, introduced back in 2019. So, it’s already got quite a reputation. Recently, it has taken on a new role, that of security guard at the Aloft Hotel at Cascadia Station, in Portland, Oregon.
Robby’s job is to discourage the vandalism that affects the hotel’s parking lot. It was first tested out in December, and the hotel representatives credit it with the drop in incidents since then, according to Local News Today. Apparently, the main reason behind this solution was the difficulty in finding people for the job but, of course, it’s also a matter of costs. This robot is a much cheaper alternative that can work 24/7.
Robby is a K5 outdoor security robot built by Knightscope. It’s 62.5-inch (158 cm) tall, it can move at 3 mph (4.8 kph) and it can even recharge itself autonomously. Equipped with eye-level 360-degree cameras, this robot can record and video stream. Using Lidar, Sonar, GPS, Wheel Recognition, and many other functions, it can monitor spaces such as this hotel’s parking lot, capable of license plate recognition and thermal anomaly detection. And it does that day and night, in any weather conditions.
But how safe is this robotic security guard for people? The hotel representatives say that Robby only detects any potential issue and alerts the staff. This should help avoid unfortunate incidents such as the one when a different K5 robot security guard injured a child at a mall.
Years ago, Aloft Hotels also started using robot butlers called Botlr. This new addition only confirms the increased robot integration across various industries. A fully-robotic hospitality staff doesn’t sound like such a distant possibility anymore.
Robby’s job is to discourage the vandalism that affects the hotel’s parking lot. It was first tested out in December, and the hotel representatives credit it with the drop in incidents since then, according to Local News Today. Apparently, the main reason behind this solution was the difficulty in finding people for the job but, of course, it’s also a matter of costs. This robot is a much cheaper alternative that can work 24/7.
Robby is a K5 outdoor security robot built by Knightscope. It’s 62.5-inch (158 cm) tall, it can move at 3 mph (4.8 kph) and it can even recharge itself autonomously. Equipped with eye-level 360-degree cameras, this robot can record and video stream. Using Lidar, Sonar, GPS, Wheel Recognition, and many other functions, it can monitor spaces such as this hotel’s parking lot, capable of license plate recognition and thermal anomaly detection. And it does that day and night, in any weather conditions.
But how safe is this robotic security guard for people? The hotel representatives say that Robby only detects any potential issue and alerts the staff. This should help avoid unfortunate incidents such as the one when a different K5 robot security guard injured a child at a mall.
Years ago, Aloft Hotels also started using robot butlers called Botlr. This new addition only confirms the increased robot integration across various industries. A fully-robotic hospitality staff doesn’t sound like such a distant possibility anymore.
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