The idea may seem far-fetched to many, but robotics are slowly starting to make their way into physical security. Companies have only begun to scratch the surface of what could be the next game-changing technology for the industry, however, the potential that robotics hold for security is enormous. One only has to look at the buzz generated by the use of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones, to see the disruptive potential of robotics in security.
It was this potential that led a group of companies involved in the development of both robotic and security solutions to launch the Robolliance program at PSA-TEC in May. According to Alice DiSanto, director of marketing for Sharp Robotics Business, a division of Sharp Electronics Corp., — the founding sponsor of the Robolliance — one of the goals in forming the organization was to become a resource where people could find valid information about what advancements in robotic technologies might mean for security and surveillance. One of the organization’s initial goals is to educate the security industry on the basics of robotics.
“The industry doesn’t really understand, in our case, what a UGV or unmanned ground vehicle is. The nomenclature, the language that is being used for robotics, first needs to be understood,” DiSanto says. “Once security integrators, guard companies and prospective customers get a grasp of those basics, then they can be empowered to ask the critical questions and begin considering robotics as a security solution. Security integrators are really that first line into the marketplace and their toolkit has just started including things like air-based drones. It is very, very important for us to continue to provide information not only on ground vehicles, which is what Robolliance is focused on, but to talk about everything that is happening in the industry.”
Filling the Void
DiSanto believes the physical security market is ripe for a robotic solution and could potentially close some of the gaps that exist today. “Current technologies are not capturing everything — whether they are not getting things 24/7 or are not able to actually observe and report in an array of conditions due to immobility,” she says. “There are also ever-increasing manpower issues that need to be augmented in order to protect people from certain procedures and allow them to transition to other critical security tasks. We tend to refer to that in other industries where robots have been used as the three “Ds” — the dirty, dull and dangerous jobs. Those are the best uses for robotic technology.”
Before robotics can truly take off in the security, however, DiSanto says there are two primary challenges to overcome that Robolliance can assist with: First, as with any disruptive technology, integrators and end-users must work through the growing pains of learning to use and understand the benefits of something they have had little experience with in the past. Second, the Robolliance and its sponsors must work to inform the opinions of those who are resistant to change and foster understanding to have an open mind about adopting robotics.
“To strive for that level of understanding, that goes back to the heart of Robolliance,” DiSanto says. “People now have a resource that breaks concepts down and amplifies key issues specific to security and surveillance. Given the wide array of Robolliance sponsors and their varied perspectives, users are going to find someone — another expert within the Robolliance — who they are akin with and has the same the kind of background or outlook they care about.”
Guns, Gates and Robots?
While the Robolliance and other organizations seek to raise awareness about the potential of robotics in the space, others are already moving towards getting end-users to adopt the technology. Mountain View, Calif.-based Knightscope was one of the pioneers in developing Autonomous Data Machines (ADMs) to serve as robot guards for a variety of installations. Earlier this month, Universal Protection Service, a division of Universal Services of America, announced it would be rolling out a new Machine-as-a-Service offering using the company’s K5 and K3 robot guard models.
According to Mark McCourt, vice president of enterprise services for Universal Protection Service, the manned guarding industry has changed significantly over the past several years with more traditional guard firms becoming conglomerates that offer both guard as well as security technology services. This has subsequently made staying ahead of the latest technology trends paramount within the industry.
“There is never a meeting where [customers] are not asking us for more services, more technology and to bring more to the table,” McCourt says. “We’re doing a lot of things with technology and this was just a very natural fit. Knightscope was also looking for a partner and ready to go to market with the K5 unit.”
McCourt says a lot of customers liked the idea of having an ADM unit on their property but they were also more comfortable with having Universal manage the operation of the robots for them. Additionally, McCourt believes robots could help supplement existing guard forces in a variety of vertical markets and that ADMs are in no way going to replace human guards.
“We might see a task that an officer might do replaced by a robot,” McCourt explains. “A cold, dark trailer truck parking lot is a great place to roll an ADM where it can hear, see, smell and be a physical deterrent with lights and noise and send all of that data back to a live officer who can take action if necessary. It is a force multiplier — people on the operational side and the information management side can do other things; they can be a concierge or be more effective in other roles.”
However, McCourt concedes there will obviously be some applications for the Knightscope units in which employing a guard would have never been a consideration by the end-user. “There was one customer who was worried about employees speeding through their parking lot at the end of the day. Maybe this is a solution to that to consider,” he says. “Now you’ve got a presence that is far more affordable than a person. It has video and license plate recognition on it, so I can record the speed and the license plate which I can run against the employee database and I can send [the perpetrator] a nasty email. The fact that this thing is rolling along makes people slow down anyway. There was never going to be an officer in that lot because it wasn’t going to solve the problem.”
McCourt says end-users could save as much as 50 percent by deploying a Knightscope unit vs. a human guard in some cases; however, he cautions that for many organizations it will not be an either/or proposition. For example, an end-user with a multi-story parking lot may decide to use an ADM to have eyes within the structure while a guard is performing duties elsewhere on the property rather than make a six figure capital investment in blanketing the lot with surveillance cameras.
McCourt thinks the future of robotic technology in the security industry will involve robots not just simply observing and reporting but actually taking action. “Other than a manned guard, we don’t have any technology that I’m aware of that anyone would buy in security that takes actions,” McCourt says.
