• Your local police force could look quite different someday thanks to robots like the one recently deployed at a Chinese railway station.

    Don't expect to ever see this cop eating a doughnut. After all, he's a robot! 

    AnBot, a 50-inch tall, 172-pound security robot is now patrolling China's Zhengzhou East train station. According to an article on Futurism.com, AnBot is pretty functional, turning his robot skills on identifying potential threats using facial recognition scanning and sensors that detect rapid changes in air quality or temperature.

    The robot, designed to assist passengers moving through the railway station, is equipped with a high-definition digital camera system of four units, which enables it to move around safely and without assistance at a fairly decent clip of about 11 miles per hour. AnBot responds to questions and if push comes to shove (perhaps literally), it's able to take image scans of people nearby and pass these scans along to the proper security authorities.

    At night, AnBot remains on guard, policing the station and alerting authorities to possible emergencies such as fires. It can also recharge its batteries autonomously—a practice that typically happens in the off-hours at night.

    It’s still unclear how much safer the Chinese rail station is with AnBot on guard. If nothing else, I’m sure it makes for some good entertainment.

    About the Author

    Beth Stackpole, contributing writer | Contributing Editor, Automation World

    Beth Stackpole is a veteran journalist covering the intersection of business and technology, from the early days of personal computing to the modern era of digital transformation. As a contributing editor to Automation World, Beth's coverage traverses a range of industries and technologies, including AI/machine learning, analytics, automation hardware and software, cloud, security, edge computing, and supply chain. In addition to her high-tech and business journalism work, Beth writes an array of custom editorial content and thought leadership pieces.

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