Toward Intelligent Security Robots: A Survey <s> A. Most Significant Frameworks <s> Abstract : A microprocessor controlled prototype robot was designed and built to perform as an autonomous sentry and serve as a test vehicle for evaluation of appropriate sensors and their associated interface circuits. A ten channel near-infrared proximity detection system was developed for use in collision avoidance, with moderate range navigational planning incorporated through use of a sonar system operating in conjunction with a long range near-infrared detector. The system was provided with a means of locating and connecting with a free standing recharging station when internal sensors detected a low battery condition. A software structure was created to provide supervisory control of the prototype and produce a reasonably intelligent process of goal achievement through execution of ordered sequences, with provision to deal with unexpected events of higher priority. (Author) <s> BIB001 </s> Toward Intelligent Security Robots: A Survey <s> A. Most Significant Frameworks <s> Abstract : ROBART II is a battery powered autonomous robot being used by the Naval Ocean Systems Center (NOSC) in San Diego, CA as a testbed in research which seeks to provide a multisensor detection, verification, and intelligent assessment capability for a mobile security robot. The intent is to produce a robust automated system exhibiting a high probability of detection, with the ability to distinguish between actual and nuisance alarms, and capable of operation within areas already protected by fixed installation motion detection sensors. An architecture of 13 distributed microprocessors onboard the robot makes possible advanced control strategies and realtime data acquisition. Higher-level tasks (map generation, path planning, position estimation, obstacle avoidance, and statistical security assessment) are addressed by a Planner (currently a remote 80386-based desktop computer). Numerous sensors are incorporated into the system to yield appropriate information for use in position estimation, collision avoidance, navigational planning, and assessing terrain traversibility. <s> BIB002 </s> Toward Intelligent Security Robots: A Survey <s> A. Most Significant Frameworks <s> Abstract : The Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance Center (NCCOSC) has developed an architecture to provide coordinated control of multiple autonomous vehicles from a single host console. The Multiple Robot Host Architecture (MRHA) is a distributed multiprocessing system that can be expanded to accommodate as many as 32 robots. The initial application will employ eight Cybermotion K2A Navmaster robots configured as remote Security platforms in support of the Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System (MDARS) Program. This paper discusses developmental testing of the MRHA in an operational warehouse environment with two actual and four simulated robotic platforms. <s> BIB003 </s> Toward Intelligent Security Robots: A Survey <s> A. Most Significant Frameworks <s> ROBART III is an advanced demonstration platform for non- lethal security response measures, incorporating reflexive teleoperated control concepts developed on the earlier ROBART II system. The addition of threat-response capability to the detection and assessment features developed on previous systems has been motivated by increased military interest in Law Enforcement and Operations Other Than War. Like the MDARS robotic security system being developed at NCCOSC RDTE DIV, ROBART III will be capable of autonomously navigating in semi-structured environments such as office buildings and warehouses. Reflexive teleoperation mode employs the vehicle's extensive onboard sensor suite to prevent collisions with obstacles when the human operator assumes control and remotely drives the vehicle to investigate a situation of interest. The non-lethal-response weapon incorporated in the ROBART III system is a pneumatically-powered dart gun capable of firing a variety of 3/16-inch-diameter projectiles, including tranquilizer darts. A Gatling-gun style rotating barrel arrangement allows size shots with minimal mechanical complexity. All six darts can be fired individually or in rapid succession, and a visible-red laser sight is provided to facilitate manual operation under joystick control using video relayed to the operator from the robot's head-mounted camera. This paper presents a general description of the overall ROBART III system, with focus on sensor-assisted reflexive teleoperation of both navigation and weapon firing, and various issues related to non-lethal response capabilities.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. <s> BIB004 </s> Toward Intelligent Security Robots: A Survey <s> A. Most Significant Frameworks <s> Abstract : The initial effort during Phase I of the Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System (MDARS) Program was aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of a single robotic security platform operating under the high-level control of a remote host with the direct supervision of a human operator. This document describes the concept of a distributed host architecture geared towards a single guard controlling up to eight robots and explores some of the key issues that were considered in the actual development. The objective is to field a supervised robotic security system that basically runs itself until an exceptional condition is encountered that requires human intervention. A globally shared world model is maintained to provide a real-time collision avoidance capability complementing the Cybermotion virtual path navigation scheme employed on their K2A robotic platform. A centralized database of high-value inventory is routinely compared with observed inventory as monitored by interactive RF tag-reading systems onboard the patrolling robots. Each robot is equipped with microwave and passive infrared motion detection sensors providing full 360-degree coverage, and an intelligent security assessment algorithm is employed to maximize the probability of detection while simultaneously filtering out nuisance alarms. <s> BIB005 </s> Toward Intelligent Security Robots: A Survey <s> A. Most Significant Frameworks <s> In this paper we present a vision-based approach to detect, track and identify people on a mobile robot in real time. While most vision systems for tracking people on mobile robots use skin color information, we present an approach using thermal images and a fast contour model together with a particle filter. With this method a person can be detected independently from current light conditions and in situations where no skin color is visible (the person is not close or does not face the robot). Tracking in thermal images is used as an attention system to get an estimate of the position of a person. Based on this estimate we use a pan-tilt camera to zoom to the expected face region and apply a fast face tracker in combination with face recognition to identify the person. <s> BIB006
In our judgment, we believe that the security industry yet hesitates to export conscious robots for real-life applications, and the reason is underlined on the reliability of such robots to handle critical situations. More specifically, it is the utilization of AI which may result in emergent responses. Such responses are well-known phenomena in AI. When robots are employed with unconstrained learning algorithms, they can produce nondeterministic reactions. Hence, the security industry has excluded this type of intelligent robots for mass production. On the contrary, there is a vast number of commercial robots employed for security applications, with, however, marginal capabilities. These robots have been developed with standard teleoperated, semiautonomous, or surveillance architectures. Today's security robots employ various capabilities, by utilizing intelligent as well as heuristic methodologies. Subsequently, they free man power and reduce the human presence from dangerous situations, or high sensitive areas  . The deployment of a fully autonomous indoor security robot has first been attempted by the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA, 1982), with the project called ROBART BIB002 ,  - BIB001 . Moreover, National Aeronautics and Space Administration has also contributed in the field by presenting innovative robotic technology for security purposes, in collaboration with the Department of Defense. Numerous other robot projects dedicated to fight crime have been developed through the "Reagan/Bush government-to-industry privatization program." One of these projects was the Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System (MDARS) BIB004 , BIB003 , BIB005 , which was developed for intrusion detection and inventory assessments. MDARS lawenforcement vehicles have been used indoors and outdoors, in locations such as warehouses, storage sites, and war fields, by deploying multiple agents performing random patrols. The robots were equipped with primitive capabilities such as detecting flooding, fires, or even intruders  . In education and research, ActivMedia BIB006 ,  has been developing various types of research security robots for indoor and outdoor tasks for many years. The very first surveillance robot was the PatrolBot embedded with a number of highly accurate sensors. A series of similar commercial surveillance robots has been developed by Robowatch Technologies, Berlin, Germany, which presented the models MOSRO, OFRO, and Mini MOSRO  . These robots employed autonomous and semiautonomous capabilities, varying in size and indoor/outdoor deployment.