I’m just wondering about the internal components on mall cop robots like the Knightscope K5. It must be using a GPU and some pretty nice cameras, right? These are common models found in the United States. I have worked closely with knockoff BD dogs, I’m not talking about those, I’m talking about the Dalek looking things.

  • Greg Clarke@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    Just remember that abducted robot cops can sometimes remember their past even if you erase their memories. But good luck on your new project

  • friend_of_satan@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    My guess is that the most expensive single component would be the lidar. Prices on lidars can be well over $100k. When I worked with lidar about 5 years ago, IIRC a Velodyne 128 was $160k. These robots would probably be using a 32 though, which is probably going to be less than 1/4 of a 128.

    Also, Velodyne and Ouster merged since I last used lidar. Ouster does in-device sensor fusion, which likely takes a significant load off the CPU and potentially GPU, meaning these robots may be able to get away with lower spec CPU and GPU.

    It appears that Ouster now does object detection, which is another reason these could get away with lower spec GPUs (assuming they’re using Ouster)

    Obviously there’s a lot of speculation in my response, but since there’s no teardown of the robot, and without spec sheets or a BOM, all we can do is speculate.

    • CondensedPossum@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      Thanks for the actual input, people who haven’t worked around this kind of hardware are mostly limited to goofing around like it’s sci-fi when it’s mostly John Deere style nonsense

  • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s vulnerable to a short-range EMP burst. Just make sure to leave your phone and smartwatch at home.

    Local municipalities only have so much in their budgets for this crap, and these things are very expensive. If enough of them fail/are destroyed/go missing forever… well, the local budget won’t be able to keep replacing them indefinitely…

    • CondensedPossum@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      There aren’t short-range EMP burst emitters, that’s sci-fi pretend. These are real robot flashlight caddies they deploy at outdoor malls in Ohio.

      • Greg Clarke@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        I suppose a nuclear ICBM could be considered a long range EMP burst emitter. And a nuclear ICBM would be effective at disabling a robot cops but it’s probably overkill.

      • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
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        2 months ago

        there is the thing you could do with a disposable camera but we are talking extreme short range. You would need to have an idea where to lay it if it even could get far enough to work and your watch phone would be fine in your pocket.

          • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
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            2 months ago

            well they did a very good job and managed to keep the joke going such that no one has outed them. The electronics they mess with though are very simple calculators and placed in the coil mostly. So even if it did work its at a range where its essentially useless.

            • CondensedPossum@lemmy.worldOP
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              2 months ago

              No clue what you’re talking about at this point. I am talking about real tech that is currently deployed in middle America. I am not talking about pretend or fiction or MI-6 or whatever. Please.