Real-life robocops? University works on 'telebots'

Twenty-five years after the sci-fi film RoboCop suggested the possibility of a severely disabled policeman still being able to fight crime, researchers at a US university are trying to do the same for real-life law enforcers.

 

But the project at Florida International University is not the cyborg with tons of firepower, but a telepresence robot with video, audio and sensory capabilities that disabled law enforcers can remotely operate.

 

A news release from the FIU Discovery Lab said the telebots can offer community policing in high-density public spaces, and perform surveillance in sensitive areas such as ports and nuclear facilities.

 

"We want to use telebots to give disabled military and police veterans an opportunity to serve in law enforcement. With telebots, a disabled police officer will be capable of performing many, if not most, of the functions of a normal patrol office – interacting with the community, patrolling, responding to 911 calls, issuing citations," said Jeremy Robins, a lieutenant commander in the US Navy reserves.

 

He added telerobotics has already begun to make its way into the worlds of medicine, business and the military, and it is natural to extend it to law enforcement.

 

Robins has so far given researchers at FIU’s Discovery Lab $20,000 of his own money and secured the loan of two custom-built robots from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) worth about $500,000.

 

While serving in Afghanistan, he had an idea to help disabled police and military veterans reconnect with the work force while fighting crime.

 

The FIU cited figures from the Veterans Administration indicating there are more than 181,000 Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans collecting disability benefits today. Many of these are unemployed.

 

Also, there are thousands of police are forced to retire every year because of disability.

 

Revolutionary idea

 

Robins said the project is revolutionary in that instead of robots taking a human out of the workforce, they are allowing a person back into the workforce.

 

“We’ll be using a technology to allow a person to perform a job they would otherwise be unable to perform or not permitted to perform,” he said.

 

"I don’t know how to fix a severed spine, but restoring that ability to serve, and specifically the ability to serve in law enforcement—that I think we can fix,” he added.

 

Urban warrior robots

 

With Robins' help, Pensacola-based IHMC, a major grant-funded robotics institute, loaned FIU two robots built for its Urban Warrior Robot (UWR) program, a $2-million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiative.

 

"With the help of UWR project lead Jerry Pratt as well as the rest of the IHMC team, robots originally conceived for war will now be filling a whole new purpose in life fighting crime and keeping our communities safe," FIU said.

 

Robins is now working with faculty and students in the Discovery Lab to develop an initial prototype based on the research by IHMC.

 

Students' enthusiasm

 

Students at the university were enthusiastic working on the robots.

 

“It’s also very nice to actually help out our vets and disabled officers. They do so much for us and they certainly deserve second chances. So this is definitely a nice opportunity to do something for them,” said Justin Rodriguez, a fourth-year student. — TJD, GMA News