Police Robot is equipped with Taser gun

'Robot police' and 'robot soldiers' are concepts that are gradually becoming a reality in the United States . Recently, a robot manufacturing company and a Taser electric gun manufacturing company have cooperated. to equip the police robot with Taser gun type.

On June 28, two companies, Taser International Inc. - shocking gun manufacturer electric Taser, and iRobot Corp. - specialized in industrial and household robots - announced the creation of a strategic alliance to develop a new robotic system to help security forces that could tame remote dangerous suspects.

Robot combined with Taser gun ready to disable the troublemakers.(Photo: Taser Int'l Inc.)

The system is a combination of the PackBot Explorer robot and the Taser X26 into a system that iRobot called 'the first robot of this type integrated with Taser's electric shock gun.' By ' giving ' Taser guns to robots manufactured for military purposes, iRobot said it hopes to provide police and soldiers with a non-dangerous defense.

But some observers fear that these new moves could eventually lead to the presence of robots capable of making decisions about shooting and killing themselves.

John Pike, Director of Global Security, a military research organization based in Alexandria, VA, said: 'This is a step in that direction.'

He said more clearly: "Now is not the first step in that trend, but I think at some point at the end of the next decade, you will start to see RoboCops (Robot Police), or Terminator. (Terminator) is like in the science fiction movies about robots in the 1980s of the last century. And we will also see anonymous robots capable of becoming a dangerous force for human life. '

Jim Rymarcsuk, Vice President of Business Development of iRobot Corp., based in Burlington, Massachusetts, thinks that the concepts of armed robots behave at their own discretion are still far from what they do. The partnership for the partnership has just been established with Taser International Inc., based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Two of the many types of Taser guns (above: X26, below: Advanced M26) (Photo: Taser Int'l Inc.)

He said: 'Right now, we do not have plans to bring any robot equipped with lethal weapons to the market. For the type of robot with Taser attached, and all the robots that we have studied, human factors have always played an important role in our decision making. That means the type of robot that uses Taser will not be devoted to the ability to use force itself at its own discretion. '

The financial information of this partnership has not been disclosed yet. The two companies said their collaboration model will be presented at a conference organized by Taser in Chicago from July 9-10.

There is no information about when this armed robot will be offered in the market and how much it will cost.

Being used by thousands of US law enforcement agencies, Taser, is a weapon that causes electric shock to police who can subdue those that need to be suppressed without the use of pistols or batons.

However, some critics are confident that this is a dangerous weapon, especially for drug users or heart disorders. Taser International and the police countered that there were no weapons at all that were not dangerous at all. According to them, the Taser really helped police preserve lives for many people because they didn't need to use more dangerous weapons.

Meanwhile, iRobot Corp. says that a robot system with a Taser gun will be the first robot to be able to use force to neutralize someone, not as dangerous as a bomb.

The 17-year-old company is known for its mobile robots in the consumer goods market, including the Roomba robot that cleans the carpet, looks like a disk. Of iRobot's total sales, 60% is generated by consumers, and the rest from government customers, industry, military and police.

The version of PackBot of iRobot helped the army remove bombs installed on the streets and ransack buildings and caves in Iraq and Afghanistan. This robot is also responsible for detecting dangerous areas before soldiers or rescue forces enter.

IRobot's PackBot Explorer versions have helped troops dismantle bombs installed on the streets and ransack buildings and caves in Iraq and Afghanistan.(Photo: iRobot)

'Through the alliance with Taser, iRobot is testing a new market, and they have found an inexpensive way to do that.' That is the comment of Mr. Alex Hamilton, an analyst of Benchmark Company.

He added: 'PackBot works very well. To integrate this robot with a Taser gun, they need to use computer software, but I think they have the ability to do that. ' Meanwhile, John Pike said that SWAT special police force prison guards will use robots with Taser guns to deal with hostage rescue situations and rebel prisoners.

He also expected police to use this type of robot to supplement, and even replace, patrols for key areas. He said: 'I anticipate that companies that need to hire police will buy this type of robot. I believe that prisons will also need this product, because in terms of cost, it could be a more effective alternative to hiring patrol forces. '

Mr. Pike said the remote-controlled robots equipped with Taser guns are still a long way from being murderers. If that happens, the development of robotic technology will go against the principle of "manufacturing robots that are not harmful to humans", which Isaac Asimov, an author of an ancient science fiction school Dictionary, clearly stated in his collection in 1950 entitled ' I, Robot ' (I, Robot) coincides with the name of iRobot.

An illustration of a police situation using a Taser gun.
(Photo: www.taser.org)

Quang Thinh