Singapore trials patrol robots to discourage bad social behaviour

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore has started trialing robots to patrol community regions and deter very poor social conduct in its hottest energy to more augment its sturdy portfolio of surveillance instruments.

Rated one particular of the safest countries in the earth, Singapore has place two autonomous robots on trial to detect poor conduct these as flouting of COVID-19 safety actions, cigarette smoking in prohibited parts and the improper parking of bicycles, Singapore’s House Workforce Science and Engineering Agency stated in a statement on Sunday.

It reported the two patrol robots, named Xavier, are outfitted with cameras that can detect negative social behaviour and result in authentic-time alerts to the command and handle centre.

The demo is having location at an spot with high foot site visitors in central Singapore.

The company stated that through the a few-7 days trial, the robots would be made use of for surveillance and exhibiting messages to educate the community on good conduct. A spokesperson from the agency claimed on Monday the robots would not be used for law enforcement during the trial.

“The deployment of Xavier will aid the work of general public officers as it will reduce the manpower expected for foot patrols and improve operation performance,” the company reported.

Singapore’s household affairs minister, K Shanmugam, stated in August the metropolis-condition aimed to have extra than 200,000 law enforcement cameras https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-double-law enforcement-cameras-much more-than-200000-more than-next-10 years-2021-08-04 by 2030, additional than double the present selection of cameras deployed throughout the island state in Southeast Asia.

(Reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore Modifying by Marguerita Choy)