Singapore is testing autonomous ground robots that can move through crowds and detect undesirable social behaviors such as smoking in prohibited areas, illegal hawking, improper bicycle parking, and gathering in groups of more than five people. When a robot spots an undesirable person, it "will trigger real-time alerts to the command and control centre, and display the appropriate message (depending on the scenario) to educate the public and deter such behaviors" according to a press release from the Singapore Government.
Also from the release:
Lily Ling, SFA's Director of East Regional Office, said, "The deployment of ground robots will help to augment our surveillance and enforcement resources. For instance, the surveillance of illegal hawkers can be manpower intensive as officers need to be deployed at various areas across the island. The adoption of robotics technology can be used to enhance such operations, and reduce the need for our officers to do physical patrols."
Calvin Ng, LTA's Director of Enforcement and Compliance Management, said, "Xavier can potentially augment our enforcement presence and deter errant active mobility behavior on footpaths. It could also provide intelligence on new hotspots or areas where egregious active mobility users have been spotted to help focus our physical enforcement efforts."
