Security Robots Aren't Science Fiction Anymore
U0205183 Teo Yinling
Security and surveillance robots have evolved much since they were introduced in the early 80s. As technology improves over the years, new security robots can do much more and some are even replacing humans. There are some which are not just security robots only.
The world's first autonomous security robot was developed at the Naval Postgraduate School- the ROBART I. It had collision avoidance sensors, but this research platform had no sense of absolute location within its indoor operating environment, and was thus strictly limited to navigating along preprogrammed patrol routes defined by the relative locations of individual rooms, periodically returning to a recharging station by homing on an optical beacon. From a security perspective, the platform could only detect suspected intruders, with no subsequent intelligent assessment capability to filter out nuisance alarms.
The second-generation follow-on to ROBART I was ROBART II , which also operated indoors, incorporating a multiprocessor architecture and augmented sensor suite in order to support enhanced navigation and intelligent security assessment. The addition of an absolute world model allowed ROBART II to:
(1) determine its location in world coordinates;
(2) create a map of detected obstacles; and
(3) better perform multisensor fusion on the inputs from its suite of security and environmental sensors . This last feature facilitated the implementation of a sophisticated threat assessment algorithm that significantly increased the probability of detection while virtually eliminating nuisance alarms.
In 2003, Wakamaru, an experimental Linux-powered humanoid robot was developed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; The 3.3 foot tall, 60 pound robot is described as the first human-size robot capable of providing companionship or functioning as a caretaker and house sitter. The battery-operated robot moves about on wheels and recharges itself when its batteries run low.
Wakamaru has an internal software platform that was developed using MontaVista Software's embedded Linux distribution and tool suite. Its project manager attributed the choice of embedded operating system to its "sophisticated software base" and "superior networking capabilities," which enabled the team to "focus on the complex programming that makes this new robot human-like." Additionally, the robust operating system also played an important role in enabling Wakamaru to service a household 24 hours a day.
Some of Wakamaru's main difference with other security robots are:
(1) A robot that is friendly to people and useful for your life at home.
(2) Lives with family members. Speaks spontaneously in accordance with family member's requirement. Has its own role in a family.
(3) Natural and enriched communication in accordance with life scenes. Recognizes approximately 10,000 words required for daily life and provides topics in accordance with life scenes and communicates in a friendly manner using gestures.
(4) Autonomous action in accordance with its own rhythm of life. The robot has its daily rhythm of life, moves in accordance with time and purpose, automatically charges its batteries and lives with family members.
Wakamaru was introduced into the Japanese market beginning in 2004, priced at about 1 million yen, which is approximately US $14,250.
The latest security robot would be the one by Hitachi. It is a proto-type security robot on wheels that stands 22-inches tall.
Hitachi's robot has a parascope camera that protrudes from its head and though it appears awkward it can watch for suspicious changes in the landscape and send photos to a guard. The camera can swivel so the robot doesn't have to do an about face to look around. The prototype which basically has a laptop on board for a brain can figure out the shortest path to a spot. When it gets there if something is missing or moved it can send back images to a security guard.
The "Star Wars"- looking robot still has problems with battery life and recognizing objects smaller than a soda can, but Japanese electronics maker believes the roving robot, which can figure out the best route to a spot on its own, is better than the stationary cameras now common for security.
Universities and even Honda Motor Corp. have developed robots that can recognized its location and objects moving, but many such robots require marks on the floor to pick up on its cameras. Another way robots figure out where they are is by global position system, using satellites.
At the present time Hitachi has no plans for commercialization of its prototype security robot, but in the future that could change and the future's probably not to far away.
References:
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=233998
http://www.spawar.navy.mil/robots/
Security and surveillance robots have evolved much since they were introduced in the early 80s. As technology improves over the years, new security robots can do much more and some are even replacing humans. There are some which are not just security robots only.
The world's first autonomous security robot was developed at the Naval Postgraduate School- the ROBART I. It had collision avoidance sensors, but this research platform had no sense of absolute location within its indoor operating environment, and was thus strictly limited to navigating along preprogrammed patrol routes defined by the relative locations of individual rooms, periodically returning to a recharging station by homing on an optical beacon. From a security perspective, the platform could only detect suspected intruders, with no subsequent intelligent assessment capability to filter out nuisance alarms.
The second-generation follow-on to ROBART I was ROBART II , which also operated indoors, incorporating a multiprocessor architecture and augmented sensor suite in order to support enhanced navigation and intelligent security assessment. The addition of an absolute world model allowed ROBART II to:(1) determine its location in world coordinates;
(2) create a map of detected obstacles; and
(3) better perform multisensor fusion on the inputs from its suite of security and environmental sensors . This last feature facilitated the implementation of a sophisticated threat assessment algorithm that significantly increased the probability of detection while virtually eliminating nuisance alarms.
In 2003, Wakamaru, an experimental Linux-powered humanoid robot was developed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; The 3.3 foot tall, 60 pound robot is described as the first human-size robot capable of providing companionship or functioning as a caretaker and house sitter. The battery-operated robot moves about on wheels and recharges itself when its batteries run low.
Wakamaru has an internal software platform that was developed using MontaVista Software's embedded Linux distribution and tool suite. Its project manager attributed the choice of embedded operating system to its "sophisticated software base" and "superior networking capabilities," which enabled the team to "focus on the complex programming that makes this new robot human-like." Additionally, the robust operating system also played an important role in enabling Wakamaru to service a household 24 hours a day.Some of Wakamaru's main difference with other security robots are:
(1) A robot that is friendly to people and useful for your life at home.
(2) Lives with family members. Speaks spontaneously in accordance with family member's requirement. Has its own role in a family.
(3) Natural and enriched communication in accordance with life scenes. Recognizes approximately 10,000 words required for daily life and provides topics in accordance with life scenes and communicates in a friendly manner using gestures.
(4) Autonomous action in accordance with its own rhythm of life. The robot has its daily rhythm of life, moves in accordance with time and purpose, automatically charges its batteries and lives with family members.
Wakamaru was introduced into the Japanese market beginning in 2004, priced at about 1 million yen, which is approximately US $14,250.
The latest security robot would be the one by Hitachi. It is a proto-type security robot on wheels that stands 22-inches tall.
Hitachi's robot has a parascope camera that protrudes from its head and though it appears awkward it can watch for suspicious changes in the landscape and send photos to a guard. The camera can swivel so the robot doesn't have to do an about face to look around. The prototype which basically has a laptop on board for a brain can figure out the shortest path to a spot. When it gets there if something is missing or moved it can send back images to a security guard.
The "Star Wars"- looking robot still has problems with battery life and recognizing objects smaller than a soda can, but Japanese electronics maker believes the roving robot, which can figure out the best route to a spot on its own, is better than the stationary cameras now common for security.
Universities and even Honda Motor Corp. have developed robots that can recognized its location and objects moving, but many such robots require marks on the floor to pick up on its cameras. Another way robots figure out where they are is by global position system, using satellites.
At the present time Hitachi has no plans for commercialization of its prototype security robot, but in the future that could change and the future's probably not to far away.
References:
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=233998
http://www.spawar.navy.mil/robots/
