Vision-guided robot watches for jaywalkers in China

When you think of robots through the scope of the vision industry, you may think of vision-guided robots deployed in factories for applications that include bin picking, pick and place, automotive inspection, and various other forms of inspection and industrial automation. There are, of course, numerous other ways that robots are deployed into our day-to-day lives.

One such interesting, novel application brings us to the city of Xiangyang, central China's Hubei Province, where police have been deploying a vision-guided robot at a crossroad in the busy city that is programmed to stop and reprimand pedestrians who may no mind to red lights, also known as jaywalking, according to The Daily Mail. The habit of ignoring red lights and crossing the streets in hordes is known as "Chinese-style road crossing," which may be caused by factors that include a lack of safety awareness, poor road planning, and ineffective laws. Local authorities believe this robot can assist in preventing this type of habit.

In the head of the robot is a surveillance camera that watches pedestrians and records any offensive behavior on the road. If a person is jaywalking, the robot will notice this and is able to send signals through arm gestures, flash lights on its chest, and give verbal warnings. All footage captured by the surveillance camera is kept as evidence for when accidents occur. Police will also use the footage as a reference when fining pedestrians for running red lights.

More and more these days, robots such as this one are making their way into the streets and into people’s everyday lives. Take for example, Kuri, a “friendly” vision-guided robot designed for the home that was launched at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017. Kuri, according to its creator Mayfield Robotics, was designed to be "friendly," and is "built to connect with you and help bring technology to life." The robot, according to the company, can understand context and surroundings, recognize specific people, and respond to questions with facial expressions, head movements, and unique "lovable" sounds.

Another recent, relevant example is Starship Technologies’ new robot that utilizes a multi-component vision system to deliver takeout food to your front door. Recently, the robot was sent by Just Eat, a UK food delivery service, to Turkish restaurant Taksim Meze to pick up an order of falafel and lamb cutlets. The food then made its way back to the customer in a locked compartment in the robot.

There is also the example of the Pepper humanoid robot greeting customers and taking orders in Pizza Hut in Asia. In other words, expect to see more and more of these types of stories in the not-too-distant future.

View The Daily Mail article.

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