Robo cop dog
It seems that crime has finally gotten bad enough that NYC Mayor Eric Adams wanted to do something to combat the losses even if it was politically unpopular. Boston Dynamics has been making their now famous robot dog “Spot” for a decade and the NYPD bought two robot dogs a couple of years ago, but the criminals complained that the robot was unfair to minorities and the city sent them back. In the meantime police recruitment and retirement are so bad Adams had to do something. “Digidog is out of the pound.” Adams said he won’t bow to anti-robot dog pressure. Adams said the remote-controlled, 70-pound Digidog will be deployed in risky situations like hostage standoffs starting this summer. “If you have a barricaded suspect, if you have someone that’s inside a building that is armed, instead of sending police in there, you send Digidog in there,” he said. “So these are smart ways of using good technologies.” Civil libertarians and police reform advocates questioned the need for the high-tech devices. “The NYPD is buying robot dogs and other fancy tech while New Yorkers can’t access food stamps because city agencies are short-staffed.” Critics say. Each Spot will cost about $75,000, with the cameras and sensors attached to their bodies costing extra.
The NYPD also bought the “StarChase” GPS tag launcher. If you have ever seen the bad guys racing away in their car after the heist that is what star chase is for. The StarChase rifle will allow police to launch a GPS tag that will attach itself to a fleeing car so that police can follow the GPS to the perps at their leisure avoiding chases and exchanging gun shots.
Dubai Police plans for robot officers is also stirring and ethical debate. Their first step is the Police Robot, a single unit entering service this week. An adapted REEM humanoid robot, citizens can report crimes to it and kick-start real-life human investigations. But while it may not be able to arrest people – or chase down suspects for that matter – Dubai Police are working towards one that can. Designed by PAL Robotics of Spain, REEM was first unveiled in 2011. Weighing 220 pounds and 5 feet 6 inches high, the two armed, wheel-based service robot can speak nine languages out of the box and is highly customizable, say its creators. Citizens can ask the robot questions, pay fines and access a variety of police information via purpose-built software. Its facial recognition technology is only 80% accurate, says Alrzooqi, but the robot’s camera eyes will send live feeds to a command control center for analysis. Dubai Police is about to test these waters in the mildest way possible when it introduces the first of a fleet of robots into its ranks on May 24. Dubai is hoping to recruit enough robots to make up 25% of its police force by 2030.
Stop or I will bite
What do you get when you cross a robot and a tractor?
A transfarmer.
Did you hear that Apple is developing a robotic guard dog?
It’s called the iChihuahua.
Why was the robot mad?
People kept pushing its buttons.
I can’t wait for an AI to reach 50% of the capabilities of the average human.
Then we can replace all of Congress with a single robot.
Birthdays on May 12th
1997 – Odeya Rush, 1820 – Florence Nightingale, 1968 – Catherine Tate, 1980 – Emily VanCamp
1937 – George Carlin, 1968 – Tony Hawk, 1925 – Yogi Berra, 1963 – Emilio Estavez