A security robot at Washington DC’s MRP Realty rolled itself into a fountain in an unfortunate accident. What a way to quit a job. (Photo via MRP Realty)
When Washington, DC’s MRP Realty hired an autonomous robot to be part of their security team, they couldn’t have guessed it would quit in the most dramatic fashion. The security K5 robot, lovingly dubbed Steve, was designed to patrol car parks and buildings. While on the job, it rolled itself down four steps into a fountain.
The bot, which reminds you of R2-D2, fell in the fountain and wound up floating sideways. Apparently, it just started the job a few days prior. People rushed to its aid, but chances are it’s permanently damaged. Knightside, the company the makes the droid, don’t have any answers as to why this happened, but they’re currently investigating it. They say it’s an isolated event. And yes, people are already calling it robosuicide.
The response online ranged from sharing fond memories to the bot to making jokes about the future of robotics. It is the internet after all. People have even one as far as putting up memorials for Steve. A day after it met its watery demise, people placed flowers , a set of batteries, a picture of a candle with the words “Never Forgotten,” and letters where the robot was based at Washington Harbour in Georgetown. At this point, it’s hard to know how genuine this memorial actually is.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time the K5 has made headlines. A drunk man was arrested for knocking over K5 earlier this year. Last year K5 found itself in trouble when it wound up tripping a toddler and rolling away.
What exactly went wrong here? Faulty circuitry? Did it see some sort of danger near the fountain and misjudged its surroundings? Or did it really hate its job that much it decided to end it all? Chances are it’s something with the hardware. As bizarre as the story is, it’s still hard to believe a robot would actually commit suicide.
Despite this unfortunate accident, there are still plans to employ security robots. In an email to the office complex’s tenants, the building manager says Steve’s demise wasn’t “an ideal situation” but assured that “When we re-deploy, we are aiming for less swimming on our patrols!”
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