A new police robot has entered service in Singapore

We are not yet at the level of Robocopbut the police robot patrolling Changi Airport, a Singaporecertainly does not go unnoticed.

The robot moves on four wheels, ha a video camera that can shoot at 360° and which can be raised up to 2.3 meters in height. Recorded footage will be kept in the police archives for 30 days.

On the front stands a display on which messages of various kinds scroll. If necessary, the robot can emit the sound of a siren or transmit, from its speakers, the voice of the agents in the flesh who are at a distance.

The travellers, by pushing a red button located just above the word “police”, they can ask for help at any time. But the angular appearance of this machine inspires more awe than empathy. It’s very different from “Xavier”the first police robot used in Singapore in 2021 – to avoid gatherings in the midst of the pandemic – to which children approached, amused and intrigued, attracted by a figure that seemed to come out of a cartoon.

The new robot, which has just entered service after five years of “training”, will have the task of “amplifying the police presence” at the airport. Singapore law enforcement will employ two for now, both in Changi Terminal 4. But similar robots will also gradually be used on the streets of the city-state.

Singapore is not the first attempt to fight crime with the help of machines. Last April the mayor of New York, Eric Adamshe announced the return “in service” of Digidogsa robot dog developed by Boston Dynamics which will help agents “in situations where life is at risk”. This is a controversial decision. The mechanical quadruped had already been announced in 2021. But then, following public criticism of a new form of surveillance that ignores privacy, the robot dog was sidelined.