The concept of automated policing started as science fiction a few years ago, but is real and powerful today. If you spend a few minutes with Knightscope co-founder and chief account officer Stacy Stephens, advanced robotic security is much more appealing.

Founded in 2013 in Mountain View, California, the public safety technology services company was the first in the world to deploy mobile, fully autonomous security robots (ASRs) in public Spaces such as large shopping malls, parking lots and community parks. Knightscope's vision is to find more effective ways to deter crime while minimizing the dangers faced by law enforcement officers.

Knightscope's mobile robots are fully autonomous, using systems that support LiDAR, GPS, sonar, IMU, 4K cameras, and hi-fi audio. The robot has five types of sensors - very similar to humans, but far more sensitive.

Knightscope is a leading public safety technology company, not a robotics company with expertise in robotics, autonomous driving technology, vehicle electrification, and the convergence of artificial intelligence. But combined, they have resulted in an agile platform that integrates numerous sensing functions and other technologies to provide actionable intelligence.

Provides superior ASR monitoring capabilities

ASR is designed to scan for known threats, allowing companies to reduce them by identifying employees who have been fired or who have been issued a trespassing warning

Workplace violence. In addition, ASR can use anomaly monitoring to recognize the license plates of outside vehicles, thereby ensuring parking lot security. ASR can provide two-way communication with its audio characteristics, allowing the robot to act as a public address system with broadcast capabilities. They can thus engage with the perpetrators and defuse hostilities.

"ASR's 'talk' function transfers danger from humans to robots." "A robot is an indescribable object," Stephens notes, "and having a conversation without someone standing in front of a hostile suspect prevents unintended escalation." "In addition, they reduce operating overhead." Stephens adds, "ASRs don't get sick, and they don't need time off."

Inject technology to drive ASR autonomy

Knightscope's mobile robots are fully autonomous, using systems that support LiDAR, GPS, sonar, IMU, 4K cameras, and hi-fi audio. The robot has five types of sensors (similar to humans) and is in control of its surroundings. In most cases, the robot's senses are sharper than those of public safety personnel.

A total of 21 LIDAR lasers map their surroundings every 25 milliseconds. This data is used to create a 3D map of the 100-meter radius area around the robot, which helps the ASR "see" its surroundings. In addition, sonar sensors provide proximity sensing, allowing the robot to tell when something is approaching. GPS is the third input for internal navigation, helping to track the robot if someone tries to move or steal it.

The odometer sensor tells the robot whether to move or track left or right by calculating the rotation of the wheel. Finally, there is the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which provides six degrees of freedom of spatial perception to determine whether the robot is upright or tilted, which may indicate that it is stuck or unable to move.

Power efficiency is extremely important for ASR

High-intensity computing, communication, and sensing put a heavy burden on ASR's power supply network. They must be compact and efficient. ASR does not have airflow or ventilation, so Knightscope began looking for a purely conductive cooling solution that could use aluminum skins as heat sinks. The company adopted the Vicor DC-DC converter module (DCM3623) because its unique ChiP™ package not only dissipates heat well, but also has an extremely small form factor. In addition, the power density of the DCM provides assistance for wiring and cable combination, as well as improved battery efficiency and performance, and extended uptime.

Typical mobile robot applications can power a variety of loads, from computers to motor drivers to cameras. Knightscope not only supports LIDAR, GPS, sonar, IMU, 4K cameras and hi-fi audio, but also uses Vicor high-density power modules to power these loads. Knightscope sought a compact and efficient power supply because the ASR had no airflow or heat dissipation. They needed a pure conductive cooling solution that could use aluminum skins as heat sinks.

On the electrical side, the robot needs to be isolated from all the different power rails. Because there are so many sensors with different EMI characteristics, Vicor DCM™ helps minimize EMI and noise interference.

"The more we can reduce the battery burden, the more uptime we'll get." "So power is always a consideration," Stephens said. "Ultimately, all of this will help us achieve our vision that when architects sit down to plan a space for commercial development or mixed use, our products will be on the same safety checklist as smoke detectors and fire suppression systems."

Looks like there's a new sheriff in town, and his name is Knightscope.

Learn more about Knightscope

About Vicor

Vicor, a leader in high-performance power modules, is committed to helping customers innovate for the power supply network with easy-to-deploy modular power system solutions that deliver the highest density and efficiency from the power source to the point of load. We are always at the forefront of power distribution architectures, conversion topologies and packaging technologies to continuously improve the density, efficiency and power performance of Vicor power modules. The company serves customers in the fields of enterprise and high performance computing, industrial equipment and automation, robotics, drones, electric vehicles and transportation, satellites, and aerospace and defense.

About Knightscope

Our mission is to make America the safest nation on Earth. We achieve this mission through the following autonomous one-time deployments.

Knightscope robots are self-actuated (autonomous) safety robots. They will walk around your campus without any human intervention, which will make a great contribution to the overall policing effort. The robot collects and delivers unprecedented data and actionable intelligence to your security team to help make smarter, safer, and faster decisions. The collected data and analytical information can be accessed from anywhere in the world with access to the Internet.