Photo: Ready for RoboCop?

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently showed off the autonomous security robot the city is piloting.

The Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot is getting a two-month pilot program in New York City's Times Square subway station. The K5 is a far cry from the eponymous cyborg in the 1987 film RoboCop. Instead, it's a 5-foot-2-inch 420-pound rolling camera and help desk phone (with a top speed of 3 mph). During the pilot, New York is leasing the K5 for $9 an hour and it will be accompanied by a human officer at all times.

Comments

[Chumby]

Not quite Crimebuster from Heartbeeps

[TwilaMiller]

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[Chumby]

420 pounds with a top speed of 3 mph and worth no more than $9/hour.
Which Democratic Party shill here does that sound like? Any guesses?

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Chris Christie?

[Dillinger]

hasn't seen 420lb. in a decade.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Alec Baldwin?

[JesseAz]

Cmon now. The trunk in this bot is way too small to house a bear. So it can't be jeff.

[Chumby]

In an alternate fafuniverse, it might fit.

[Commenter_XY]

SPB2

[Super Scary]

Hitler? Oh wait, this isn't one of those.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

JB Pritzker?

[flag58]

Is the K5 there to protect the cop or vice versa?

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[tracerv]

I'd buy that for a dollar!

[Stuck in California]

Literally looked in the comments just to be sure this was posted.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Where's the donut slot?

Also, why is it white?

[Don't look at me!]

Also, why is it white?

They wanted it to show up on time?

[Quicktown Brix]

Also, why is it white?

Shell color is the most important thing.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

NYC didn't want to pay the "pink tax"?

[mad.casual]

Also, why is it white?

To makes things easier when it arrests black people 70% of the time.

[Guy]

Why is it white?

To narrow the pay gap. $9 an hour will help.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

Can you imagine the whining if they had used "blackface"?

[Chumby]

Because it moves at 3 mph. It would need to bolt a lot quicker than that to qualify as a Robot of Color. Doesn’t look like it can jump either.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

White Bots Can't Jump.

[Illocust]

Huh, so if I'm guessing motivations right. The idea is to have a visible sign you are being watched to discourage people from committing crimes. Kind of like how some cities will let cops take their work vehicles home, because having a cop car parked on the street discourages crime in the area.

[Agammamon]

The problem though is that that doesn't work with cameras.

An on-site security guard can deter - people will gladly do heinous crimes in full-view of security cameras because they know they'll be gone before the cops arrive and the resolution is always so horrible you can't make ID's from them.

[Vernon Depner]

Why is it that we have cameras that can read a license plate from orbit, but a surveillance camera can't take a recognizable picture of a face from six feet away?

[MrMxyzptlk]

My knowledge of cameras is about six years out of date, which is forever in that industry, but when I was installing cameras we could get cameras that would do all those things. They just cost a lot of money. The reason the cameras don't get good images is the cities don't want to pay the big bucks for hardware. Cameras don't vote. High paid union members do.

[Longtobefree]

How many illegals can they feed for what that pilot program costs?

[JesseAz]

During the pilot, New York is leasing the K5 for $9 an hour and it will be accompanied by a human officer at all times.

Sooooo.... straight pay out to the company. It serves no actual use.

[Don't look at me!]

If they left it unattended, it would be stripped for parts in 5 minutes.

[JesseAz]

Very fair.

[mad.casual]

I was thinking even with an attending officer, it can't work the platform. The officer would only need to be distracted for ~2s before there would be a 420-lb. obstruction on the track.

And, I must say, my interest in seeing a subway train hit a 420 lb. Robocop, in a controlled environment of course, is greater than zero.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Instead, it's a 5-foot-2-inch 420-pound...

Finally, a body positive Robocop.

[mad.casual]

Yo Mommabot's so fat she looks like Robocop ate an iPhone, a couple ENG cameras, and the dollies.

[Dillinger]

Yo Mommabot's so fat she sits around the precinct.

[Don't look at me!]

Why is the mayor only giving a half hearted endorsement?

[Super Scary]

Seems weird he is doing that since the thing doesn't have arms, let alone hands. I know the "A-Ok" hand sign is now about white supremacy, but did something happen to the good old fashioned thumbs up?

[mad.casual]

Are you sure it's a heart sign?

[Guy]

What is K5's pension formula?

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I give up. Which one is the robot?

[Dillinger]

I'd buy that for a dollar.

[SRG2]

That's life in the big city.

[Longtobefree]

Bait and switch:

"As of the time of writing, the cost of a single K5 robot is estimated to be around $60,000 to $70,000. This price includes the robot itself, along with the necessary software and support services provided by Knightscope."
From the Knightscope website:
Autonomous Detection
Force multiplying physical deterrence
360-degree, eye-level video streaming and recording in HD
People detection during certain restricted hours
Thermal anomaly detection
Automatic signal detection (watchlist for approved, denied and unknown MAC addresses)
License Plate Recognition (parking monitor and watchlist for approved and denied vehicles)

[Longtobefree]

Not intended to need a keeper:
The Knightscope K5 is intended for outdoor use running 24/7 on its own, including autonomously recharging itself without any human intervention.
The K5 is best suited for securing large, outdoor spaces through the winters of the Northeast and the summers of the South.

[Eeyore]

Are our leaders ready for robo John Wilkes Booth?

[Chumby]

If so, there would be a lincoln the description.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

I'll grant you that.

[Chumby]

There has to be some lee-way.

[damikesc]

Why does he assume that thing won't just be toppled over or destroyed?

[Idaho-Bob]

Because it has a PoPo escort.

[Eeyore]

Can it shoot dogs? Can it kneel on the necks of drug abusers? If not, what good is it?

[Vernon Depner]

Can it lie in court?

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[AT]

and it will be accompanied by a human officer at all times.

*facepalm*