Robotics has revolutionized the modern workforce landscape. There is not a major good or product that is not manufactured, processed, or delivered without them. In the proud tradition of innovating new technologies, the South Koreans have done something entirely new. Quite frankly, I think its VERY cool.
Robots will conducting patrols within the prisons in South Korea. The Yonhap news site says, "AFC Chairman Lee Baik-chul, also a professor at the Department of Corrections at Kyonggi University, said the robots will perform simple tasks such as patrolling during night hours and this will significantly help human prison guards focus on other more complex tasks."
What will be some of the priorities for these robot sentries?
Weighing approximately 165 pounds and being 4'11, the robots should be completed and ready for a field testing in March. If successful, they could be fully implemented in Korea's newer prisons.
Can you imagine if there robots on patrol at San Quentin or your nearby county jail? It would dramatically reduce the workforce needed to patrol and supervise prisoners. It would be a deterrent against some prison violence and possible illegal activities by having additional "eyes and ears".
What will be some of the priorities for these robot sentries?
“It’s at night when problems can occur. The robots will watch for any signs of suicide attempts or physical attacks on prisoners instead of the human guards. This will allow the human guards to work on more difficult problems such as educational work and counseling,” said Lee.It appears the robots will be using video analytics and cameras installed in their faces. When it sees a deviation from a set parameter of rules, it will alert the central monitor station who will alert guards to take action. The robots will also be capable of being a communications conduit between guard and prisoners through an internal intercom.
Weighing approximately 165 pounds and being 4'11, the robots should be completed and ready for a field testing in March. If successful, they could be fully implemented in Korea's newer prisons.
Can you imagine if there robots on patrol at San Quentin or your nearby county jail? It would dramatically reduce the workforce needed to patrol and supervise prisoners. It would be a deterrent against some prison violence and possible illegal activities by having additional "eyes and ears".
Having the robot serve as a conduit between the guards and prisoners could reduce violence between the two adversarial groups. However, it could also drive a wedge further between the two. It might also cause some officers to miss certain areas during the patrols because they relied on the robotic counterparts to cover it. This occurs many times in the private sector where security officers miss their rounds intentionally because of an over-reliance on surveillance and intrusion detection systems which lull many into a false sense of security.
This is a very interesting development in the field of corrects and one that was bound to happen. It is speculative whether the robots will be successful during field testing or in real operational settings. Given the problems we see in video analytics with false alarms or missed deviations which were not in the programmed set of rules, it would be interesting to see how they overcome such obstacles. This is a development which could have profound effects not just for corrections but for the private security and law enforcement counterparts as well.
This is a very interesting development in the field of corrects and one that was bound to happen. It is speculative whether the robots will be successful during field testing or in real operational settings. Given the problems we see in video analytics with false alarms or missed deviations which were not in the programmed set of rules, it would be interesting to see how they overcome such obstacles. This is a development which could have profound effects not just for corrections but for the private security and law enforcement counterparts as well.
Check out this video of Korean robotics operational in a different environment:
