A four-wheeled robot named Xavier began patrolling one of Singapore’s main districts in a three-week trial reported in early September 2021. Its job: spot small offences that officers on foot usually have to catch themselves.
The list includes smoking where it is banned, illegal hawking and badly parked bicycles. Under the city state’s Covid-19 rules at the time, Xavier was also meant to try to break up public gatherings of more than five people.
The machine is described as AI-powered. It carries 360 degree cameras and a set of sensors, and it moves around without human direction. When it detects a rule-breaker, it sends a real-time alert to a central command and control center and orders the person to stop over a loudspeaker.
The aim is to cut the need for patrols on foot. Lily Ling, a director at the Singapore Food Agency who helped develop the robot, said the ground robots “will help to augment our surveillance and enforcement resources.”
She gave illegal hawkers as an example. “The surveillance of illegal hawkers can be manpower intensive as officers need to be deployed at various areas across the island,” Ling said. “The adoption of robotics technology can be used to enhance such operations.”
The Daily Star noted that Singapore already watches its public spaces closely, with ordinary CCTV plus drones, sensors and facial recognition. Police robots are spreading elsewhere too. In April 2021, the New York Police Department took a robotic police dog out of service after public backlash over privacy concerns and cost.
