straitstimes.com: Starting Friday, May 8, Bishan Ang Mo Kyo National Park (Singapore) will be patrolled by a robot to remind people of social distancing.
The pilot is being conducted jointly by NParks, the Smart Nation and the Digital Government Group (SNDGG). Upon completion of the test, a robot named "Spot" will help keep distance in parks, gardens and reserves managed by the National Parks Council (NParks) and in parks managed by city councils.
The robot is equipped with cameras complemented by video analyzers developed by GovTech. This software helps the robot to estimate the number of visitors in the patrolled area. When spotting a non-compliance with the distance, the Spot turns on a recorded audio message to remind park visitors to observe safety measures.
As part of the two-week trial, Spot will be deployed over a 3 km stretch of River Plains after hours and will be accompanied by at least one NParks officer. If the test proves successful, NParks will consider deploying the Spot for safe distance at Bishan Ang Mo Kyo Park in the morning and evening rush hours. NParks is also considering deploying the robot to other parks such as Gardens and Jurong Lake.
Originally developed by the American company Boston Dynamics, the four-legged robot is capable of navigating obstacles more efficiently than wheeled robots, making it suitable for a variety of terrains. It is also equipped with safety sensors to detect objects and people within 1m to avoid collisions.
GovTech has enhanced Spot with various features such as remote control, 3D mapping and semi-autonomous operations to make testing easier. The company is currently developing analytics to allow Spot to check whether park visitors are following safety measures.
Promotional video:
Because the robot is remotely controlled, less manpower is required to patrol the park, helping to minimize physical contact between staff and park visitors. This helps reduce the risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.
SNDGG will also be exploring the possibility of using the robot to support other Covid-19-related operations across agencies. Similar robots will be deployed at the Pandan and Makrichi reservoirs.
Editorial comment
In the early 1950s, the great American science fiction writer Robert Sheckley wrote a story called Watchbird, which at one time was translated as "The Guardian Bird." The essence of the terrible tale boiled down to the fact that the authorities launched a mass of UAVs into the sky, which were supposed to fight crime. As a result, the UAVs began their game and began to kill everyone.
There were several adaptations of the story in one form or another, the last one in 2007 in the series Masters of Science Fiction, episode 6, so those who wish can watch and understand what to prepare for. Although in reality everything will seem to be much worse.
About ten years ago, observing the trends of n / f series and films, conspiracy theorists began to suspect that the owners of this world were preparing some kind of electric shepherds for the herd - that is, some robots that would roam the streets with a stun gun and stimulate the sheep to labor, mating or eating there. In particular, the very interesting series War of the Worlds was launched by FOX last year:
We remembered this series even when the pandemic had just begun. There, according to the scenario, the “Martians” dropped some things emitting a signal from which people began to fall dead on the streets, like in Wuhan. And then there were these robotic dogs. And now it is necessary - how were these guys from FOX right, so we follow the development of events.