Cocobo security robot

Cocobo. © セコム株式会社.

Secom in Japan presented a security robot called Cocobo. Designed to patrol public spaces, it’s 70 cm wide, 120 cm deep and 125 cm tall and weighs approximately 160 kg, battery included. It cruises around at 6 km/h and can travel about 12 km in 3 hours after a 3-hour charge. Cocobo moves autonomously along its patrol route, detecting suspicious objects (forgotten luggage, presence of a weapon) or situations that deserve attention such as a person lying on the ground, and alerts emergency services via 5G. A remote-controlled arm inspects recesses like the inside of a garbage can or the underside of a vending machine. It uses lights and a cloud of smoke to intimidate a person exhibiting threatening behaviour (check out the apprentice burglar smoking sequence at 2:05 in the video link below). With its multidirectional wheels, it can even take the elevator. The system is equipped with several cameras, a proximity–, gas–, and thermal-image–sensor, 2DLiDAR, 3DLiDAR, a microphone, speaker, etc. According to Secom, the AI ​​that powers the robot exercises “judgment” just like any human security-guard.

Japan is not the only country to develop this kind of machine. In California, Knightscope rents out its patrol robots, and the Huntington Park Police Department uses the K5 to ensure the security of a large park. (Remember the K5’s fun and watery mishap in 2017?) In any case, if you’re going to Japan and you come across Cocobo, don’t mess around with it!

⇨ YouTube, “セキュリティロボット「cocobo」を開発｜報道発表｜セコム株式会社.”

⇨ Impress Watch, Kazumichi Moriyama, “セコム、不審者を威嚇する警備ロボ「cocobo」 倒れた人や不審物を自動感知.”

2021-06-17