Singapore’s Police Force (SPF) has fully deployed two police robots at Changi Airport.
Two police robots are now patrolling Changi Airport Terminal 4. They are equipped with advanced features such as audio broadcasting, visual displays, and direct communication capabilities.
The authorities see the police robots as an addition to frontline police officers, enhancing premises patrol and contributing to the overall security presence at the airport terminal.
So far most robots at airports are all a bit dull – cleaning is the most widely used. This new robot at Changi looks like it has a bit of character but it probably won’t get much business in Singapore.
Key features and capabilities of the police robots
[Image: Ryan Quek / Singapore Police Force]
The police robots come with state-of-the-art features, including:
- camera mast up to 2.3 metres
- 360-degree surveillance
- live-streamed video footage
- display panel
- broadcast audio
- public interaction
Camera mast up to 2.3 metres with 360-degree surveillance
The police robots are only 5ft 7in (170cm) but can reach 7ft tall with that extendable mast. That 2.3 metre mast allows the police robots to see all sorts of stuff over the heads of passengers and the camera on top has a 36-degree view.
Live-streamed video footage
It live-streams what it sees straight to police HD. You can’t hide from this thing. Live-streamed video footage is recorded and kept in the operations room for 30 days.
Display panel
It has a rear LCD panel to display visual messages, like “Police Operation In Progress”. The panel can display useful and important messages to passengers and staff.
Broadcast audio
During an incident, it can deploy interim intervention measures such as blinkers, sirens and speakers to send messages to the public. This helps to introduce cordons and warn people nearby – but who would go near this thing?
Passenger interaction
Apparently passengers and staff can activate a button located on the police robot’s front to communicate directly with the Police.
The police robots have been working hard at Changi since April and are soon to be introduced throughout the island state.
Robots at airports (and ports)
The number of robots trialled at airports (and ports) is increasing and includes:
- Shenzhen – AnBot at Shenzhen Airport
- Amsterdam – Spencer at Amsterdam Schiphol
- Atlanta – Atlanta Airport and Southwest Airlines testing self-driving pods
- Christchurch – Pepper at Christchurch
- Bengaluru – Temi at Bengaluru Airport
- Cinncinnatti – Ottobot at Cinncinnatti
- Dallas – Dallas airport has 7 foot tall SCOTs to check passengers wear mask
- Frankfurt – FRAnny at Frankfurt
- Geneva – Leo at Geneva
- Glasgow – GLAdys at Glasgow
- Indianapolis – ‘Sheldon’ at Indianapolis
- Kansai – Security robot to start patrol at Kansai Terminal 2
- London Heathrow T5 – Bill for British Airways at Heathrow T5
- Los Angeles – Athena at Los Angeles
- Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh trials robots to deliver products to passengers
- Prague – Master Pepper at Prague
- Rome Fiumicino – Robots deliver food to passengers at Rome Fiumicino Airport
- San Jose – Norma, Amelia, and Piper at San Jose
- Seoul – Unnamed at Seoul Incheon
- Taipei – Pepper for EVA at Taipei
- Tokyo Narita – ASIMO at Tokyo Narita
- Tokyo Haneda – EMIEW3 at Tokyo Haneda
- Tokyo Haneda – Nao for Japan Airlines at Tokyo Haneda
- Zunpeng Xiaobao for Shenzhen Airlines
Our favourites remain AnBot at Shenzhen Airport with the cattle prod and the Sheldon Cooper lookalike at Indianapolis.
The list is getting a bit long to include in a post so we’re going to make some changes. Not sure about the details but there will still be a top 10, with a special – can you beat Shenzhen and Sheldon – feature.
