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Uber Hires a Robot To Patrol Its Parking Lot and It's Way Cheaper Than a Security Guard (fusion.net)
Fusion's Kashmir Hill is reporting about a five-foot-tall, white, egg-shaped robot that one can find at the company's inspection lot near Mission Bay in San Francisco. The K5 robot is a stand-in for a human security guard, and it sports multiple high-definition cameras for 360-degree vision, a thermal camera, a laser rangefinder, a weather sensor, a license-plate recognition camera, four microphones, and person recognition capabilities. The report adds:If someone suspicious comes into the lot, or starts messing with a car, the robot can't tase them or break out any weapons. Instead the robot can set off an alarm, send a signal to human security personnel, and record everything that person does to be used against them later by police. Customers of Knightscope, the company that manufactures the aforementioned robot don't buy the machines. They rent them, usually two at a time, so one can charge its battery while the other patrols. The cost is $7 an hour. "For the cost of a single-shift security guard, you get a machine that will patrol for 24 hours a day 7 days a week," said Stephens, citing wages of $25 to $35 hour for a human security guard.
Most criminals won't think twice before blasting this thing into oblivion. Until they are given the same rights as people, these will never be as effective as there is no incentive to not take them out before or during the crime.
Where do security guards actually get paid $25 an hour? Everyone I know doesn't make upwards of $15.
Putting aside "we-will-all-be-replaced-by-robots-soon", this is actually a good idea, and the company making them has the right strategy; much better to charge an hourly rent instead of a huge upfront fee!
Apart from the employment issue, I can see a lot of benefits, robots aren't racist and robots aren't rude, and I assume security to actually be better with the robots in place.
The only problem with this patrol robot is, when someone steals it it won't be able to shoot them. Is it outfitted at least with the ability to zap the hell out of attackers? Or blast them with a massive amount of pepper spray?
Paralyze/incapacitate them until they can be arrested.
... defeated by a $7 / blanket to cover it with.
Can't do stairs
Defeated by box put over security robot
Security guard defeated by silly string
1. wait for SF to deploy these in all major parking locations
2. wait a few years for snow....http://snowbrains.com/san-francisco-ca-rarely-see-snow/
3. break into everything while the useless 400 sensor robot can't get to or from its charging station
4. profit
It will be better to purchase from an owner who is a good farmer and a good builder.
That day when someone steals the security robot...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
It says the robot CAN'T use weapons. Can't ya read mister? Can't ya read?
How is there not a plunger and curling iron duct-taped to this thing? Exterminate!
A robot is not an employee, it is a tool. You don't hire robots, you put them in service.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
So I bring something to jam it's radio signal and then beat into parts. By the time they find it I am long gone. No muss no fuss no evidence pointing to me.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
I doubt it will know.
until the thieves steal the robot? I mean, faraday cage the thing, bring it to a metal warehouse, dismantle and sell it's parts. Easily enough done and at the same time you can be stealing the cars in the lot the robot used to patrol.
My not responding to your flame is in no way indicative of my submission to your statement, it just means I don't have t
The video shows the robot rolling around on pristine parking lot. Are those small caster wheels on it? If so, it will probably be stopped by a pebble, crack, expansion joint...all common features of every lot I've seen.
So it it finds something it alerts a security guard who you must still have previously hired (and presumably not busy with some other important duty/incident).
I suppose for areas with a small guard force this can help to protect/patrol remote areas. But get some better wheels!
An easy way to get past the robot,
Wear something like this
"Are you classified as human?"
"Negative, I am a meat popsicle!"
If a robot costs $7/hour to rent, and you need two of them (for battery changes), that's $122K/year for 24x7 coverage.
Is this roving robot better than blanketing the lot with fixed security cameras? (other than acting as a honeypot to attract people that want to mess with the robot) Whatever logic the robot uses to determine if something warrants an alarm could be applied to the fixed camera feed as well. And you have fewer blind spots since the robot can't see what's happening over in the next row of cars and it's very apparent when you're in the line of sight of the robot.
Because once enough blue collar and low/no skill jobs are automated, there'll be no jobs for those people, which will ironically cause crime rates to rise and thus prove the need for robot guards to get self activated weaponry... because the jobless thugs are destroying our pretty robots before they steal our cars!
For all the high techies here who think its just fine and those people should just go get an education, I say this:
either robots will eventually automate away most developer and similar techie tasks or if those people become skilled by the tens of millions then tech wages will drop to minimum wage.
I for one welcome our new robot overlords!
But you need other security personnel to actually triage the situation. And, if those other personnel aren't on-site, a criminal just needs to know what their response time is and plan accordingly.
This isn't going to deter real criminals - once the novelty wears off, it'll likely be less effective than a human. It probably will help with mindless vandalism, though... well, probably not. It WILL help catch them after the fact.
Like a lot of things we read about here, this tech is currently rather half baked. But it'll eventually get there, and we (as a society) really need to be discussing how we're going to handle that new world where most jobs have been automated.
#DeleteChrome
Didn't used to... Used to say "the robot can(garbage characters) tase them or break out any weapons".
You can get a permit for outfitting it with some kind of area-denial device within your presumably fenced and clearly marked property.
If it can emit a painful ultrasonic shriek, fire off an omni-directional microwave that makes your skin feel like it's on fire, or blink a bajillion-candle strobe in your face to temporarily blind you... then it's suddenly useful.
How does it know the difference between someone trying to get into their own car versus someone doing damage to a car..? I bet it can't.
part it out on ebay
love is just extroverted narcissism
[[citation needed]]
"People in different professions than me are barely human!"
Which is to deprive some family of their income to increase corporate profits regardless of the detrimental impacts to society. All hail our corporate overlords.
Who pays for false alarms (other than the taxpayer)?
It's not the police's job to stop by for any potential crime an automated system may have picked up. Certainly they don't come to my home if a burglar alarm goes off. Presumably this would work similar to an alarm company which would monitor an alarm and decide whether to dispatch a person (or possibly call police) , possibly with a fee for dispatches. That centralises the personnel required and allows the robot security company to have only a few staff in addition to many robots.
A chicken with a badge would also cost less than a human security guard. Cost alone is not a great stat to compare competing solutions. How well does the robot do it's job compared to a human guard?
Hi -
I think what they meant was a _cost_ of $25 to $35 per hour paid to the security company, which is much more than the guards actually get paid. Here in the Los Angeles area regular security guards are often paid just over minimum wage, although armed guards can get about $20 per hour.
Tom
You'd think they'd just hire one of their own drivers as a "contractor" I think they pay them even less than $7/hr I think they are getting ripped off using the robot.
Use whatever id card to let the robot know you are not a suspicious person. It has to have some information for its basis of whether this is a suspicious situation/person or not. For best effect, get a locksmith or mechanic ID which allows you to choose any car in the lot. On your way out run the roving camera down or steal it.
Only I can judge you.
Because it doesn't.
1.5 times on the high side. Guards probably get few benefits so more like 1.25 times.
$25-$35 for a security guard?
Last time I checked, security guards were paid pretty much minimum wage, with armed security not a great deal more.
Note that this ISN'T even a security guard, this is simply a mobile alarm system that will call security - which you'd still have to have on hand. Sure, it would be a force multiplier, but I also see this silly thing being easily gamed.
-Styopa
Another cool gadget doing menial tasks in Silicon Valley....bla, bla......
What's the actual cost of the machine and how many hours of uptime is its cost spread over to get "$7/hour".
You can also have a $200,000 Ferrari for only $4.60/hour so long as you commit to paying that price every hour for 5 years.
Does it respond to the name Alexa? :D
RIP tazed guy, another victim of slashdot's inability to support unicode.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
$7/hour is the rental price.
I'm curious what Uber will do when we void out the need for humans to be passengers. Would robot travellers really need to travel, or to be passengers? So, after we have all our automated kiosks at fast-food restauraunts voiding otu the need for people to go to work there, and we've voided out the need for humans to go there to eat, and we're all stuck at home with nothing to do and nothing to eat, will there still be places to go, or will we void those out as well along with things to do when you get there?
When I saw the title, I was hoping for an ED-209.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Why restrain yourself? Destroy it, then shit on the remains. Take a picture of the shat-upon wreck. Print it poster-size. Hang in your room. Rinse and repeat.
How can any human security company compete with this? they are held to a min wage, This is lower then that wage in effect cutting out all human competition.
Jack of all trades,master of none
Automating the primary tasks of a security guard were never difficult. A bunch of mounted cameras can do all of that.
Humans have always been better in two very important aspects. The first is the flexibility to handle something weird -- without completely losing functionality. Maybe that comes in the form of duct tape over the camera lense, or a bright flashlight into robot's lenses, or a bucket of water, or spray paint.
But the biggest reason for a human security guard has nothing to do with the human at all. It's the person that's significant. The person has legal rights. Huge legal rights. Like the legal right to not be beaten to a bloody pulp.
If a thief wants to steal a car, and winds up damaging a robot in the process, then grand theft auto becomes frand theft auto and destruction of property. Big deal. Compare that to grand theft auto and physical assault or grand theft auto and attempted murder. Most human thieves won't escalate to the next level of criminal behaviour. Most humans won't turn a verbal argument into a physical brawl.
But that doesn't exist with the robot.
So, the solution? Really simple: "Disabling a robot is tantamount to assault." Pass that law, and robotic security is an instant reality. Think real-life DRM circumvention laws.
We need to separate into two countries, one which institutes a Universal Basic Income, and another which tells people who lose their job to go get an education (on their own dime, with no financial assistance).
We'll see within a decade I think which approach works better.
Do you write your own emails? If so, you're depriving someone of a job. You need to hire a secretary to take dictation from you and write your emails for you, otherwise you're contributing to the demise of society by killing jobs.
Do you cut your own grass? If so, you're depriving someone of a job as a landscaper.
Do you cook your own meals at home? If so, you're depriving someone of a job as a personal chef.
Do you make your own bed? If so, you're depriving someone of a job as a maid/housekeeper.
Do you drive yourself to work? If so, you're depriving someone of a job as a chauffeur.
Do you spend time with your kids, giving them baths (if they're young), feeding them in their high-chair (if they're really young), taking them places, or helping them with their homework? If so, you're depriving someone of a job as a nanny.
How does it feel to be a job-stealer?
Yes, get education, then get rejected by employers for not having experience in the job.
Out. Of. Touch.
>camera on wheels is cheaper than a security guard
No fucking shit? Maybe because it's not a substitute. You CAN, probably successfully, argue that it IS a substitute for the only things you were using the guard for. If it still qualifies you for insurance writeoffs or whatever, what do you care?
Though the purpose of this technology is to reduce workforce headcount, as humans, we can ensure a certain number of us remain employed in this space.
Every visit, bring a few lengths of old garden hose. Lay them out in the routes the robot takes. From my experience with our Roomba, I would expect this will prevent the security robot from completing its appointed rounds. A human will be dispatched to remove the garden hose from the path. That human will grumble about how someone keeps messing with the robot by leaving this gardenhose laying about, while not realizing this is a gift of charity to the human who is paid to remove the hose-- job security for the security job.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Sssooo, it's an Aperture Science Sentry Turret, only without the red eye and projectile pellets.
[End Of Line]
Accountant here. No the burden rate for an hourly employee is NOT "3-4X" their take home pay. Generally speaking it is around a 50% markup of their gross (pre tax) salary. So if you pay someone $10/hour their real cost is probably $13-18 depending on the benefits offered and insurance costs.
...reminds me of those people who drive what is clearly a 5 or 6 thousand dollar value used van/truck through the front of a quikie-mart so they can steal the mini-ATM that probably only has a couple of thousand in cash (max) at any given time. Real profitable. Dumb Ass!
I have no use for one, but something about the thing makes me want to throw a conductive blanket over it to muffle its RF output, then throw the helpless thing in the back of a pickup truck and whisk it away.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Uber's Test Fleet of Self-Driving Teslas not yet spotted.
Entire trades are now vanishing. This week the handwriting is on the wall for security guards. Somebody who feels artistic should create a calendar every time the disappearance of a trade is likely due to technology. Meanwhile government makes zero adjustments for the vast human unemployment that is coming at us at great speed. Interesting times await us.
You might work for different employers than me. I was regularly charged out at 2-3x my actual rate doing IT consulting.
The price you charge as a consultant has zero relationship the actual cost of an employee. It's not even required to be higher than the actual cost though it normally is. Price is a negotiated amount. What I said was correct. The fully burdened COST of an employee in general is roughly 1.5X their gross salary. If a firm decides to bill out their talent at a higher multiple, that is fine but it is a separate issue.
There is a big difference between IT consulting work and being a security guard, so yeah, the multiplier would be higher for skilled work.
Don't confuse price with cost. The cost of an employee has effectively zero relationship to the amount charged to customer for his/her services. Price charged is a negotiated amount. While it is typically a profitable multiple of the cost, it isn't required to be. It could be any number from 0 to infinity in principle. The actual, fully burdened cost of a typical employee is somewhere around 1.5X their gross salary in most cases. If a consultant is able to charge 3-4X the cost for their services then good for them but that's a separate consideration.
You are correct that the multiplier can be higher for skilled work though in general the costs are higher for skilled work as well for reasons that should be obvious.
ed-209 was awful
Uber, if not its drivers, are making a mint, and they can't afford human guards?
And then there's the bit about alarms if something happens: how will the cops respond, after the 12th time that week that someone hits it with a paintball gun, covering all its fancy sensors? (The 13th time, of course, they'll do it, then go in and steal cars.)
mark
Or maybe it's a turret. I can hear it, now. "Are you still there?"
barely human
Just like AC's.
Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.