The security robot SAM3 was designed to be a security guard’s best friend. Using its sensor systems, it can detect intruders, defects in electrical equipment or dangerous gases. It knows no weakness in operation and can provide effective, 24/7 support to its human colleagues.
The small, box-shaped robot completes lap after lap of the car park and keeps watch over the cars parked there. It never gets tired; its attention levels never drop. Although it may look innocuous, the five antennae on its “roof” give an idea of just how much technology its façade conceals: a 360-degree camera, a thermal camera, a laser scanner, various sensors and an ID reader – among other things – are all contained in the diminutive, half-metre-tall housing of the SAM3. Using these systems, the highly advanced smart security guard can detect objects and people while on the move. The SAM3 knows the floor plan of the guarded building inside out, can easily dodge obstacles on its patrol route, take the lift and even open automatic doors.
A helpful colleague
The robot was developed by the firm Robot Security Systems, based in The Hague. The firm has been performing operational tests of the SAM3 as a mobile car park guard since August 2016 in cooperation with facility management company Sodexo. “Technology can make our work easier, safer and more efficient,” says Sepp Rickli, Sodexo General Services Manager and supervisor of the joint project. “The robot will not replace security personnel, but it will be a helpful colleague.”
The founders of Robot Security Systems have themselves worked for many years in the security industry and came up against one particular weakness time and time again: the human element. After all, human security personnel can get distracted or tired and their attention levels can drop on routine patrols – and people can be bribed. SAM3 is now heralded as the solution. The robot was conceived especially for security operations. Its sensors and cameras make it the eyes and ears of the human security guards, meaning it can be easily integrated into existing security systems. It will immediately raise the alarm in the control centre if it detects an intruder, for example. It then falls to a human to decide what action to take.
SAM3 can be more than a security guard
“The robot is pre-programmed with a variety of features such as a site plan, the locations of detectors and a catalogue of measures for the security personnel,” explains Edwin Lustig, CEO of Robot Security Systems. SAM3 can be additionally equipped with various extra sensors to help it detect heat or fire, radiation, faults in electrical systems, CO2 or other poisonous gases.
Sodexo manager Rickli can easily imagine the metallic car park guard performing other tasks as well: “The robot can also contribute to hospitality, for instance by taking people to their destination, identifying free parking slots, or by contacting a human colleague.”
