Whether anyone likes it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is leaving its mark in all walks of life, making tomorrow’s robotic security guards which used to be found in science fiction movies, as today’s reality. These unmanned security guards are well equipped with substantial access controls and scanners to potentially substitute or supplement human security guards in many commercial and protected places across many countries. Robotics being the science of artificial intelligence and cloning human behavior to its best, has tried to make lives and functions of humans more efficient and convenient in every sector. Similar is the case with the security bots, which come with much appreciable advantages and work features over any traditional human security setup, but the limitations of a machine can never be looked upon, specially in case of security where human lives and assets are on line. The question of employing one such bot in personal or commercial premises need to be dealt with utmost clarity of getting a surveillance done or requiring a proactive decision making in emergent situations.

State of the art features of a security robot:

The various features that makes these security robots increasingly preferred and high on demand in many developed nations can be summarized as follows:

• Round the clock security;

One of the best features which is also non negotiable in case of security is 24X7 availability, provided by the new age security robots as they are automatically charged and considerably reduces the uncertainties and availability of security guards round the clock. The issue is even bigger when guarding protected areas which are quite splendid and requires hundreds of security personnel in various shifts to cover the entire premises.

• Reliability;

Machines when compared to humans, always score higher in terms of reliability owing to their meticulous design and well programmed structure. They can not be easily distracted or manipulated as in the case of humans and give objectified results based on the programming done. It gets better when a single bot can accomplish multiple tasks with no compromise on memory and number of tasks assigned.

• Detailed Scanning;

A single robotic guard can be easily equipped with multiple scanners and sensors, each carrying out a specific job, like scanning license plates, facial recognition, motion detectors, capturing real time pictures and videos, IR illumination for obstacle detection, differentiating between acceptable objects and individuals and the restricted ones. Such an extensive job profile is too much for a single security personnel to handle and still be accurate on the same.

• Autonomous Patrolling;

This is one thing that makes a robot an actual security substitute by being present for patrolling of protected areas on its own, learning the path of patrol and never letting it go. Once programmed for the desired route, the security bots adhere to the same supported by automatic battery charging stations in observation positions, allowing the security robots to carry out their guarding activities even when charging.

• Intelligent Surveillance;

Onboard video analytics for human detection and face recognition, 360 degree vision with multiple high definition cameras capturing almost everything around them, real-time on spot gathering of information and sending to the security base, microphones to record noises, are some of the examples to have a fair idea of diligent surveillance these devices are capable of.

• Intercommunication;

The whole idea of getting remarkable automated security features through artificial intelligent security bots gets more meaningful and effective when these bots can actually listen and enact to the commands given by their security heads. This involves, playing operator called warnings, alerting the security personnel in case of unusual or suspected activity, notifying any damage intended to the security bot. 

• Overcoming human limitations;

Although no machine can ever replace the human design to the T, there are still the limitations attached to all of us which eventually led to the invention of machines that can perform better with more accuracy and reliability. The security robots will overcome the long list of shortcomings only seen in the case of humans, viz. laziness, tardiness, absenteeism, costs attached, bribery and manipulation, risks and uncertainties, memory issues, vision problems etc.   

Conclusion:

There lies a vast difference between traditional preventive security tasks assigned to human security guards and the sophisticated surveillance (majorly gathering data) taken up by robotic security bots.

Where the former concerns measures and deep insight in combating crime or breaches, the latter is about scanning tons of data that is sometimes beyond the scope of human guards. Humans can choose, decide and change the course of their action in emergent situations preventing the escalation of severe conditions, while the same to expect from the advanced security bots is still debatable. Hence, all in all implementing security robots alongside security personnel and attaining the right balance of costs and effectiveness is the best option to start with.