Canine Robo-cop

Improving the response capacity of the security forces in emergency and crisis situations is the objective of the 5G Tactile project, designed by the University of Malaga (UMA) and which includes the presence of quadruped robots capable of assisting the Local Police in patrolling the streets of the capital.

On Tuesday March 19, one of the tests of the robot dog was carried out, in a demonstration that took place in the Plaza de la Constitución of Malaga and caused great excitement among passers-by.

The project has been developed jointly with Telefónica Defence and Security and Alisys and is designed to be used by human operators althopugh the ‘dog’ can even navigate autonomously without the need for human intervention. The aim of the 5G Tactile project is for these robots to become “assistants” to police officers, to alert the authorities to problematic situations such as a robbery or a suspicious object.

Robot sniffer dog

The prototype, which weighs 35 kilos, has several on-board computers, Lidar technology (the same that is used for autonomous driving) and, by means of artificial intelligence and a 360-degree camera, can detect infractions – the passage of a scooter through a pedestrian zone, for example.

Once these innovations have been tested, it is also planned to carry out tests in other scenarios, such as equipping it with thermal cameras to carry out search, and rescue tasks or even equipping it with a sense of smell for tracking or identifying whether a suspect is lying.