If the world now knows your company as the maker of a suicidal robot cop, might as well have a laugh about it.
“Security robot, yes. Submarine robot, no. Got it,” Knightscope tweeted in response to several viral images that showed one of its K5 Autonomous Data Machine bots drowning in a shallow fountain on the Georgetown waterfront (what a way to go).
“I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot. I am sorry,” K5 said in an official statement that also featured an image of the robot wearing an American-flag themed swimsuit and a skeptical rubber ducky floating device.
The Knightscope K5 security robot was meant to be patrolling the mean sidewalks of Georgetown when it was foiled by a ledge—or, rather, a lack thereof—yesterday. Jokes on the internet ensued.
It’s a fun day here at @gmmb. The super high-tech security robot at our office complex has had a mishap. pic.twitter.com/nhRshrJA9w
— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) July 17, 2017
Our D.C. office building got a security robot. It drowned itself.
We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots. pic.twitter.com/rGLTAWZMjn
— Bilal Farooqui (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017
BREAKING NEWS: “I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot. I am sorry,” said K5 in an official statement. pic.twitter.com/nWC4tubv9w
— Knightscope (@iKnightscope) July 18, 2017
Knightbridge has pledged to replace the 300-pound security robot for free, and the company investigating how exactly it met its untimely end. Here’s how Fast Company described its capabilities in 2015:
Looking like a sleeker, taller version of R2-D2 or a Dalek, depending on which sci-fi reference point you’re coming from, the K5 comes with a series of sensors and cameras and is designed for perimeter patrolling. It acts as a mobile camera for its operators as well as a detection device in its own right. Its “audio event detection” system senses for things like cars honking, glass breaking, and people screaming. It can scan license plates, separating out cars that are allowed somewhere and those that aren’t.
But it still has a knack for trouble. In previous adventures, iterations of K5 have toppled a toddler (the 16-month-old was injured in the leg) and gotten into a brawl with a drunk man (K5 was back in action shortly thereafter and the guy was arrested, so I think we can say the robot won that one).
K5 was a brand new addition to the neighborhood. The developer behind Washington Harbour only introduced the “new sheriff” in town last week. “He’s currently mapping out the grounds here to be fully autonomous and ready to launch in the upcoming days,” MRP Realty said in Facebook post on July 12. “P.S. We’ve been calling him Steve :)”
Someone wrote in to ask about what the robot does. Nobody responded until another person chimed in this afternoon: “It swims.”
RIP Steve.
Steps are our best defense against the Robopocalypse
(Security robot down at Georgetown harbor) pic.twitter.com/eVf7YUJX1j
— Peter W. Singer (@peterwsinger) July 17, 2017
Rachel Sadon