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February 8, 2007

South Korea's Intelligent Border Patrol-Bot

In an effort to keep their tenuous border with North Korea more secure, the South Korean government has introduced a battalion of 1,000 intelligent surveillance robots to help in patrolling the border.

The robots are equipped with video analytics technology, which allows them to recognize "suspicious movements" at a long race. The robots movements, including their gun functions, are controlled remotely for the most part, although robots can fire at will should the need arise: "Until now, technology allowed these robots to conduct monitoring function[s] only. But [now] our robots can detect suspicious moving objects, literally go after them, and can even fire at them," said Sang-Il Han, principal research engineer at Samsung Techwin.

Once the target is within 10 meters, it will demand a pre-programmed military secret code. If this code is not provided, it could give three possible responses: sound an alarm, fire rubber bullets or open fire with a K-3 machine gun." From ABC.com....

The robots, which are manufactured by Samsung Techwin, are being purchased by the South Korean government at $200,000 a pop. This advanced, remote form of video surveillance could be very beneficial to South Korean security. Currently, the DMZ (demilitarized zone) separating North and South Korea is heavily monitored by surveillance cameras. These armed sentry robots can help free up military staff, allowing them to perform more active security duties alongside the robots instead of watching monitors for hours on end.

This promotional video, released by Samsung, shows many of the robot's features, particularly highlighting the robot's video analytics capabilities. Although it's in Korean, the advanced features of the robots are clear. Watch for the footage where the video analytics function of the camera is in use - the camera is able to independently track movement of more than one person, even at night!

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Posted by Jennifer on February 8, 2007 10:45 AM

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