US schools starting to deploy robots that can surveil campuses and confront intruders

Some schools in the United States have now turned to robots to help beef up campus security and potentially confront intruders.

According to the Wall Street Journal reports, Santa Fe High School that is located in New Mexico, became among the first US schools to test an autonomous robot that uses artificial intelligence to learn the campus’ routes and typical hours of activity. The school currently runs a 60-day pilot program that began in June to test its effectiveness.

Security in US schools has become an increasing concern due to mass shootings at campuses, including the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.

The 400-pound, four-wheeled robot currently roaming Santa Fe High School can provide 360-degree video footage, and it was created by Team 1st Technologies, an Albuquerque-based robotics company. Reports say that it had seven cameras and a battery that lasts 20 hours, requiring four hours to charge at a self-charging station. The manager at the company said the robot could alert a security team in cases of an active shooter and move toward the suspect to send a video to authorities.

Though it’s not armed, the robot is said to also be able to confront intruders. It has a speaker system that can allow a remote security team to speak to an intruder.

The executive director of safety and security at Santa Fe Public Schools, Mario Salbidrez, said the robot would supplement the existing security system the district has in place. As you know, sometimes we’re limited on human resources to be out and they also need breaks and lunches and so forth, so the robots are going to help us supplement the downtime for our regular staff,” – he added.

Superintendent Brad Wade from the Wyandotte Public Schools district in Oklahoma revealed that the district plans to deploy four robots from Stokes Robotics, which sells quadruped and wheeled robots. He said the district is mainly interested in surveillance bots that can watch the entrances of school buildings. Still, it may also consider robots that can confront intruders.

Robert Stokes, President of Stokes Robotics mentioned that he is working with multiple school districts to introduce robots in the classroom. The robots can be used to teach coding, but they can also take more proactive actions, such as pointing a laser beam or flashing a light to distract the intruder, Stokes wrote in an email to Insider.

Stokes added that when an intruder is detected, the security personal takes control of the robots, takes them out of the classroom, and confronts the intruder. The robots provide two-way communication and video feeds for security and law enforcement.”

He also mentioned that his company’s robots also have the ability to “district, disorient” and draw the intruder’s attention for several minutes until law enforcement can arrive at the scene.

A video demo from Stokes Robotics shows how a quadruped robot can point the laser beam at an intruder’s chest or bump into the suspect.