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Robocop looks a pushover compared with a robotic security
guard that shoots at will
IT'S been sixty years since writer Isaac Asimov dreamed up his laws
governing robot behaviour. But the message still hasn't sunk in.
Researchers in Thailand have developed a robot security guard that
comes armed with a gun, and has no qualms about whom it shoots.
Called "Roboguard", the gun-toting
sentinel is designed as a cheap
alternative to a human guard. It can
be ordered to fire at will, or told to
check first with a human via a
secure Internet connection.
As they appeared in Asimov's
science fiction writings in 1940, the
three laws of robotics were meant
to prevent robots from harming
people (see Table). Roboguard
appears to have the potential to
flout all three.
The machine was built by Pitikhate Sooraksa of King Mongkut's Institute
of Technology in Ladkrabang, Bangkok. It consists of a handgun and a
small video camera mounted on a motorised holder that can direct them
automatically.
"It has two modes, manual and automatic," says Sooraksa. Using the
weapon in manual mode, he can control the gun from a computer
anywhere in the world. A laser pointer on top of the gun marks its
current target.
For automatic operation, Roboguard is fitted with infrared sensors that
allow it to track people as they move. Sooraksa has password-protected
the "fire" command for when the robot is operated over the Internet.
"We think the decision to fire should always be a human decision," he
says. "Otherwise it could kill people."
This doesn't reassure Kevin Warwick, a cyberneticist at Reading
University who has long warned of the dangers of robots gaining too
much power over human beings. "Things can always go wrong," he says.
You can never allow for all eventualities. "We need to think about
introducing laws like Asimov's, but even then robots will find ways to get
round them."
Other researchers were equally concerned about Roboguard. "I find this
quite horrific," says Chris Czarnecki of the Centre for Computational
Intelligence at De Montfort University in Leicester. "What about time
delays across the Internet when it's busy? What you'll be seeing and
what the gun's pointing at will be two different things. You could end up
shooting anything."
Czarnecki also suspects the robot's tracking system might be
error-prone. "If the tracking's infrared, what happens when the Sun
comes out? It's a big source of infrared radiation."
At the moment, Roboguard is tooled up with nothing more powerful than
an air gun. To test its accuracy, Sooraksa pinned balloons to the walls
and took potshots at them from a computer. "It's very similar to a real
gun," he says. It could easily be upgraded to a more powerful weapon
such as a machine gun, he adds.
Sooraksa says Roboguard might be of interest to private companies, but
sees the armed forces as a more likely buyer. "We'd like to show it to
the military," he says. "It should be in good hands."
The current, static version of Roboguard could be just the start.
Sooraksa hopes to develop his prototype further. "You could make it
mobile, it could be designed as a walking system," he says. "We have
the technology."
Ian Sample
Robocop looks a pushover compared with a robotic security
guard that shoots at will
IT'S been sixty years since writer Isaac Asimov dreamed up his laws
governing robot behaviour. But the message still hasn't sunk in.
Researchers in Thailand have developed a robot security guard that
comes armed with a gun, and has no qualms about whom it shoots.
Called "Roboguard", the gun-toting
sentinel is designed as a cheap
alternative to a human guard. It can
be ordered to fire at will, or told to
check first with a human via a
secure Internet connection.
As they appeared in Asimov's
science fiction writings in 1940, the
three laws of robotics were meant
to prevent robots from harming
people (see Table). Roboguard
appears to have the potential to
flout all three.
The machine was built by Pitikhate Sooraksa of King Mongkut's Institute
of Technology in Ladkrabang, Bangkok. It consists of a handgun and a
small video camera mounted on a motorised holder that can direct them
automatically.
"It has two modes, manual and automatic," says Sooraksa. Using the
weapon in manual mode, he can control the gun from a computer
anywhere in the world. A laser pointer on top of the gun marks its
current target.
For automatic operation, Roboguard is fitted with infrared sensors that
allow it to track people as they move. Sooraksa has password-protected
the "fire" command for when the robot is operated over the Internet.
"We think the decision to fire should always be a human decision," he
says. "Otherwise it could kill people."
This doesn't reassure Kevin Warwick, a cyberneticist at Reading
University who has long warned of the dangers of robots gaining too
much power over human beings. "Things can always go wrong," he says.
You can never allow for all eventualities. "We need to think about
introducing laws like Asimov's, but even then robots will find ways to get
round them."
Other researchers were equally concerned about Roboguard. "I find this
quite horrific," says Chris Czarnecki of the Centre for Computational
Intelligence at De Montfort University in Leicester. "What about time
delays across the Internet when it's busy? What you'll be seeing and
what the gun's pointing at will be two different things. You could end up
shooting anything."
Czarnecki also suspects the robot's tracking system might be
error-prone. "If the tracking's infrared, what happens when the Sun
comes out? It's a big source of infrared radiation."
At the moment, Roboguard is tooled up with nothing more powerful than
an air gun. To test its accuracy, Sooraksa pinned balloons to the walls
and took potshots at them from a computer. "It's very similar to a real
gun," he says. It could easily be upgraded to a more powerful weapon
such as a machine gun, he adds.
Sooraksa says Roboguard might be of interest to private companies, but
sees the armed forces as a more likely buyer. "We'd like to show it to
the military," he says. "It should be in good hands."
The current, static version of Roboguard could be just the start.
Sooraksa hopes to develop his prototype further. "You could make it
mobile, it could be designed as a walking system," he says. "We have
the technology."
Ian Sample
