In this article we will examine Yelp's new robot security guard, Cobalt. What is most certainly bad news for humans looking for work in the security field presents a great opportunity for shopping malls and corporations to save money on labor.

Cobalt's Routine...

Like most night-shift employees, Cobalt wakes up late. It powers up at about 8 p.m. and is instantly ready for another exciting night on the job!

Here are a few details from an article I found on this topic entitled 'I Spent the Night With Yelp’s Robot Security Guard, Cobalt'

It traverses the lobby, gliding over polished concrete toward a small recess in the corner, where it inspects the emergency exit tucked inside.

"But there was daylight and cold air coming through where they'd bent the door frame. A high definition camera would have spotted the light. A directional mic would have heard the noise. A FLIR infrared sensor would have flagged the temperature delta,” Lee says, with the punctilious air of a man who has spent more than a decade overseeing security at Silicon Valley firms like Uber, Apple, Google, and Amazon. “Cobalt has all three," he says, gesturing toward his recent hire as it about-faces from the alcove and resumes its patrol. "It's also mobile."

According to this article Cobalt is able to detect minor details that human security guards are just not able to spot at first glance. With advanced sensors, it practically renders our human eyes and ears obsolete in comparison!

Cobalt is one in a growing class of autonomous robots developed for spaces like malls, museums, and offices—the kinds of places that are more structured and less cluttered than, say, an apartment, but more dynamic and unpredictable than a warehouse or server room.

Cobalt, like many other modern technological projects was developed in Palo Alto. Its robotic sentries are 5-feet 1-inch tall, and contain more than 60 sensors. Beyond that, this advanced robot security guard uses AI, machine learning and computer-vision algorithms to recognize people, places, and temperature.

"We have the equivalent of what’s running in an autonomous car running on this robot," says Cobalt Robotics CEO Travis Deyle.

Want to see Cobalt up close and personal?

After reading about this amazing security robot, I couldn't help but watch this short video to get a better understanding of what we are dealing with here...

Techblogger Wrap Up

Robotics and AI are two cutting edge fields that have experienced remarkable development and growth in the past few years. At the pace this technology is developing in our own lifetimes we will see new gadgets and services come to market that we could have never believed possible a decade or two ago.

If you've read my other pieces you will know that I feel strongly that we must create a strong code of ethics around AI and Robotic development because things could get extremely out of hand if projects such as this one aren't managed ethically and developed responsibly. Does this guy remind you of anything?

After all it's bad enough some people will be forced to make career changes, we don't need a bunch of terminator Cobalts running around trying to finish off the human race do we now?

If you have any thoughts or comments you would like to leave on this topic, please leave them below.

Thanks for reading!

Sources:

Wired - 'I Spent the Night With Yelp’s Robot Security Guard, Cobalt'