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Robot To Serve Security Detail At FIFA World Cup In Brazil

Posted by samzenpus on from the you-have-20-seconds-to-comply dept.

Hallie Siegel writes "PackBots will be deployed in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup Soccer season to bring a high-tech approach to security. The nation's government has secured a $7.2 million deal with PackBot's creators for 30 of the military bots. The robots will be stationed throughout Brazil's 12 host cities, during the soccer matches to boost security and help examine any suspicious objects."

17 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. RoboCops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What could possibly go wrong...

    1. Re:RoboCops by Mitreya · · Score: 1

      What could possibly go wrong...

      Exactly. I wonder how much of that $7.2M has been earmarked to pay off damages/compensation, should anything go wrong?

    2. Re:RoboCops by opusman · · Score: 4, Funny

      Drop your weapons. You have 20 seconds to comply.

    3. Re:RoboCops by OzPeter · · Score: 1

      What could possibly go wrong...

      Quite a lot from what I have seen

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  2. Obligatory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Number 5, is alive!

    1. Re: Obligatory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Actually the obligatory comment should be "It's football, not soccer!"

  3. Will they be team branded? by rusty0101 · · Score: 1

    Since these bots have been as widely used in combat zones, I'm wondering how many are in the black market, and of that population, how many are already in Brazil, and outside of the control of the local security forces that will be using the ones that are authorized. As a result I wonder if the ones that are being delivered to the security forces are going to be branded in some way to make it difficult for people possessing the black market variety devices (or since there are many pictures and videos of them in action, it's not like someone interested in doing so would have any problem manufacturing counterfeits) setting them up as bombs themselves, hiding them in plain sight within the crowds of spectators.

    A couple of possibilities could be to brand the 30 with team colors of all but the Brazil and Spain teams, or team logos. Granted that would require approval of Fifa, but if it is their security teams, I would suspect tha tthey would approve.

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    1. Re:Will they be team branded? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      why would you need to buy a friggin rc car on steroids from the black market? why not just call them up... they're just going to be possible bomb inspection bots anyhow and not roaming free in terminator mode..

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    2. Re:Will they be team branded? by rusty0101 · · Score: 1

      The reason to buy (if at all) one on the black market, is for the appearance of authenticity. As far as how one would be used would be to "stage" a bomb incident, with the bot "disarming" the bomb, an "inspection/cleanup" team (in paramilitary gear to mask their identity) "clearing" the area, then as everyone thinks the area is clear, the real bomb, or bombs are triggered in the crowd. Not only do you end up having the effects of the bombing, but you end up discrediting the security forces being used to protect the events.

      I would not be surprised if the legitimate bots were used in other situations besides bomb inspection tasks. They are used in other situations already, I would expect that some will be used to inspect sewers and storm drains in the area of the stadium to insure that people are not using those as ways to get past entry gates, getting a better picture of what is happening in hostage situations, and so on. I don't know that a "fake" can't be used in one of these types of situations either as a bomb, or to emplace a bomb of some sort. Or again do other things to leave the legitimate security forces looking bad.

      But yes, all of these things could easily be done without going to any effort to make it look "real". The only problem I can see with "calling them up" is that I wouldn't be at all surprised if the devices are going to be considered highly suspect through the legitimate shipping channels. For that matter I would not be surprised if all packages from iRobot over the next several months were "delayed in transit." But well over half of the people here could probably make a believable mock up of one of these things with off the shelf compnents at hardware and electronics stores, even in some of the most tightly controlled areas.

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    3. Re:Will they be team branded? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      well if you have people appearing in paramilitary gear would they bother with fake bomb bots? kinda unnecessarily complex plot. (south america has plenty of paramilitaries though).

      but skipping acquiring some remote control inspection units just because some revolutionaries might have some would be pretty stupid.. and spectators at the games haven't read this pr anyways.

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  4. Lisarb: a country in reverse. by motufero · · Score: 1

    The president here in Brazil said recently she would put the army in the cities to "ensure safety" against protests (many here do not agree with this overspending cup). Now this ...

  5. You have 5 Seconds to Comply by xianzombie · · Score: 1

    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/...

    Sonny Corleone Make Over courtesy of ED-209

  6. Oh... by dohzer · · Score: 1

    ...so the same the "robots" that have been defusing bombs everywhere for about the last ten years?!

  7. More cherry by justthinkit · · Score: 1

    I was hoping for something a little more cherry.

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  8. Fox just had show that showed what can happen by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    http://www.tv.com/shows/almost...

  9. Are the games even going to happen here by litehacksaur111 · · Score: 2

    The stadium is like 6 months behind schedule and has suffered from numerous accidents including fire damage. I think this is the least of their troubles at the moment.

  10. Wrong country to try this... by ldeviveiros · · Score: 1

    They want to have a $100k piece of equipment walking around in Brasil? They are getting stolen before the 20 seconds are up! "Drop your weapons. You have 20 seconds to comply. Do not approach. Do not lift this unit. Do not place unit in van. Help!"