Robots go to prison – as guards

Citation

Bloss, R. (2012), "Robots go to prison – as guards", Industrial Robot, Vol. 39 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2012.04939caa.007

Robots go to prison – as guards

Article Type: Mini features From: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 39, Issue 3

Korean Kyonggi University is developing telepresence robots that will patrol the halls of the prison in the city of Pohang. The 1.5-m tall robots will watch and listen for any odd or violent behavior by the jailed inmates (Figure 5). Not only will the robots look and listen, they will be programmed to analyze activities and determine what is unusual behavior and alert the monitoring center personnel.

Figure 5 The “friendly” Korean prison guard robot

The one billion Won (about 850,000 USD) project will develop the robots with two-way audio communications plus television cameras. Guards will be able to remotely listen to and watch activities in the cells and prisoners will be able to contact guards if there is an emergency problem. The advantage of a mobile telepresence robot in prison monitoring is that unlike a fixed closed circuit television, the guard can remotely direct the camera to any situation he wishes to check more carefully. There will be no more inmates hiding from the camera.

The guard robots are designed with a friendly “face” of soft edges, big eyes and a friendly appearance. They do not carry any weapons but serve only as a listening and watching “post”. The robot “guard” will be able to cover cell monitoring with fewer feet on the ground, saving manpower costs.

Richard Bloss