Amphibious Spherical Robot Helps Chinese Police Patrol

Equipped with net guns, pepper spray, smoke bombs and sonic emitters, the RT-G robot can handle threats at close range.

Spherical robots patrol with Chinese police. (Video: Chengdu China).

The RT-G spherical robot patrols with police in a commercial area in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, attracting attention with its modern appearance and functions. The robot, which can operate both on land and in water, was developed by a research team led by Wang You, an associate professor from the School of Control Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University, ECNS reported on December 10.

In a video posted on social media, RT-G moves autonomously on the road without a human operator. According to Wang, this 125 kg robot can move at speeds of up to 35 km/h.

In addition to its ability to accelerate quickly, the robot can also overcome terrain well and operate stably, with little chance of falling over. With a sturdy structure, it can also withstand strong impacts. Wang's team has improved and added some equipment to the robot such as net guns, pepper spray, smoke bombs, whistles, and sound transmitters to meet the requirements of the police, including the ability to confront and handle threats at close range.

The team also developed a smaller, handheld version to meet various requirements in application scenarios, such as firefighting. In addition to serving public security and armed police, the robot can also be used for counter-terrorism drills, security protection, firefighting, emergency rescue, and even underwater situations such as detecting river pollution thanks to its ability to float on the water surface.

RT-G robot moves automatically on the road without a human operator.

The spherical robot has become a social media sensation and has attracted attention from overseas customers. Some customers from the Middle East have contacted the team to inquire about the robot, Wang said.

Currently, the production cost of RT-G is about 41,400 - 55,200 USD. With continuous improvement and cost reduction as production scale increases, Wang expects the application of spherical robots to expand to household appliances or toys.

The research into spherical robots began in 2017, when Wang was inspired by an idea from a team at Uppsala University in Sweden. Since spherical robots represent a new branch of robotics and there was little previous research to draw from, Wang's team had to overcome many challenges during development, such as helping the robot overcome obstacles on complex terrain while maintaining relative balance.