Prison robot guard render. (Via ETRI)
At the eastern most reach of the Iksan-Pohang Expressway sits a city of half a million people along the coast. There, criminals will face a new kind of prison guard, a 5' (150 cm) tall robot. Three of these 154 lb (70 kg) bots are schedules to take over the prisoner watch for a one-month trial in March, 2012. The bots will patrol on four wheels, garnished with kid-friendly colors and a hard-plastic smile. Definitely, an odd choice of looks for a prison.
Kyonggi University Professor Lee Baik-chu lead a team partnered with the Asian Forum for Corrections and the Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in the development of the bot. Onboard the platform are a plethora of sensors designed to sense inmate activity for "violence and suicide." The bot can see in the dark, so nothing is hidden from its nightly rounds. The bot will alert real guards to any potential issues.
The Korean government is backing the endeavor, for a total of 1 billion won ($877,000 USD).
Professor Lee Baik-chu told the Yonhap news agency, "As we're almost done with creating its key operating system, we are now working on refining its details to make it look more friendly to inmates." That is very nice of researchers.
Cabe