Meet the AI-powered robot replacing humans as security guards in Switzerland
The robot frees up a single human to patrol large outdoor areas that normally require significant staffing but at a lower cost, its creator says.
Amid labour shortages and growing attention to safety, security companies around the world have been looking to deploy robots on patrol duty.
In Europe, people living in Switzerland have been seeing an autonomous two-wheeled robot roaming around the country for the past six months.
The patrol bot, developed by a robotics start-up from ETH Zurich, Ascento, has been acting as a guard for Swiss security firm Securitas AG.
Ascento says its patrol robots have been providing an added layer of security and enhancing operational efficiency at several test sites, including a Swiss railway depot.
"It can go over flat terrain, it can go over obstacles, it can even go [up] one or two steps and this is because we use wheels and legs," said Alessandro Morra, CEO and founder of Ascento.
Its thermal camera detects people and vehicles, while the 360° camera captures images of the surroundings. The robot can communicate via a live feed with a backup operator in a control centre.
