Did you guys see the recent article on Xavier the ethical robot? I am pretty sure everyone has seen the article – but what is the purpose of Xavier?

According to Mothership SG, Xavier will be roaming around the streets of Toa Payoh Central for about 3 weeks to detect ‘undesirable social behaviour’. This includes:

1. Smoking in prohibited areas
2. Illegal hawking
3. Improperly parked bicycles within HDB Hub
4. Congregation of more than five people (in line with prevailing Safe Management Measures)
5. Motorised active mobility devices and motorcycles on footpaths

The purpose of Xavier is to educate the public regarding these undesirable social behaviours, and in turn, provide additional support to the public officers, reducing the manpower required for patrols. Imagine getting called out by a robot? The future is strangely fascinating.

 

How does Xavier achieve his purpose?

Well, being a robot, Xavier can navigate autonomously as it is fitted with different types of sensors, including safety feature. It can avoid stationary and dynamic obstacles, such as pedestrians and vehicles. Of course, these functions are imperative, as you would not want a robot roaming around and bumping into anyone, especially children and the elderly.

Additionally, Xavier is equipped with cameras that provide 360-degree video feed to the command-and-control centre. It can also capture images and videos in dim light or the dark. With this data that is being captured from Xavier’s cameras, it will be streamed to a video analytics system, with artificial intelligence capability developed by HTX’s in-house computer vision engineers. Together with an interactive dashboard, public officers can receive real-time information in a command-and-control centre and be able to monitor and control multiple robots simultaneously.

 

Foodpanda’s Striking Pink Droid!

A few months ago, in the month of May, Foodpanda collaborated with 3 autonomous robot start-ups on a driverless delivery mode by the striking pink droid! These 3 companies include Whizz Mobility, OTSAW and Neolix.

The main purpose of doing so is part of Foodpanda’s strategy to leverage on innovative opportunities to progress towards contactless, sustainable, and more efficient way of conducting deliveries to customers. Of course, when this happened, many were concern about robots taking over and replacing jobs for those who are already doing so. It did not necessarily garner the support from the public per say. But of course, the purpose of this droid is not to take away jobs, but rather tackle the issues faced by riders, such as:

1. Unable to deliver due to bad weather
2. Increase in orders during peak periods / pandemic period
3. Deliver orders in inaccessible areas

At the end of the day, Foodpanda’s only aim is to “enhance the delivery ecosystem to better serve customers and ensure operations are future-proof to adapt to the changing world”.

It is no longer a surprise to see robots capable of doing pretty much anything and everything. It is scary yet fascinating at the same time. Many other countries are also doing the same thing and perhaps already integrated robotics into most of their daily routines that it is a norm for them. Singapore has just recently rolled out this robotics to improve on their business, which accelerated even more when Covid-19 hit. Even Jewel, everyone’s favourite mall, has robots roaming around to in their words “revolutionise guest experience”

Meet Jewel’s Robotics Gang

There are a few of them, doing various tasks, which includes:
1. Robots that clean
2. Robots that do the heavy lifting
3. RoboCops
4. Robots that provide service with a touch

 

Robots that clean!

As most of us have probably seen, two mop robots are deployed at Level 1 of Jewel, around the HSBC Rain Vortex. Their main purpose is to do spot mopping autonomously, drying wet areas in the valley, due to the water that splashes around from the vortex. This area is frequent by a lot of visitors daily, but that does not affect the ability of these cleaning bots to do their work. They can safely navigate around these visitors and efficiently clean too!

A value-add being provided is that the guests can interact with the robots by either scanning a QR code or by pressing the “lionsheart” button on the robots. Before looking into Jewel’s page on their robots, this is something I did not know about but am mesmerized by such a function! Apparently the QR code will direct guests to a webpage where they can ask the robot a list of questions, like how it is feeling, or even make a request for the robot to sing or rap! How cool is this? Also, when guests pressed the “lionsheart” button, the robot will either giggle or respond by saying “OUCH”! Next time I am at Jewel, I’ll be sure to try this!

 

Robots that do the heavy lifting!

These robots are practically waste collection robots that can each pull a 660-litre bin along a pre-mapped route, stopping along the way for tenants to empty their trash. This helps cleaners to reduce their workload in emptying trash, which helps them shift their focus on other areas for cleaning! Now we know why Jewel is always spotless! Teamwork makes the dream work!

 

RoboCops!

These RoboCops are called PETER which stands for Patrol and Traffic Enforcement Robot. Love the wordplay, don’t you? PETER’s main purpose is to patrol along the main entrance of Jewel in which they can screen traffic enforcement messages and play audio advisory alerts, for drivers who stop their vehicles for an extended period at the kerbside. This saves a lot of hassle for the security guards, as PETER has got their back! Watch out drivers, you do not want to get called out by PETER!

 

Robots that provide service with a touch!

This hospitality robot can be found roaming around Jewel’s Canopy Park, offering sweets and bottled water to guests, after a tiring round of bouncing, sliding, or exploring the various play attractions. The robot greets guests along its path, and guests can retrieve information from them by a simple pressing of a button! Personally, I have never seen this robot at level 5, but I will be sure to keep a lookout on my next visit!

 

 

Conclusion

Of course, there are many other usages of robots in real life, but perhaps we will uncover that some other time! Robots are here and they will co-exist with humans for a long period of time. As much as they are here to assist in mundane and labor-intensive tasks, they are also here to assist in enhancing services provided to customers. Wouldn’t it be cool then for us to understand how is it these robots are able to do so? How is AI integrated into these bots, and how does the programming work? Well, if you are passionate and keen to venture more, Aventis Learning Group has got your back!

 

Kick-start your AI and Robotics Journey!

Robots and AI are both exceptionally intelligent in several ways. These technologies possess cognitive abilities as well as sensory processing and decision-making skills. These abilities enable these machines to mimic human behaviour, as well as drive these machines to create their own actions and motivations. From this point on, we will be interacting with and shaping our world as these advanced machines take charge. For now, we must focus on anticipating and learning how these machines behave and accept the eventual world of both humans and machines.

On that note, Aventis is partnering with UBTech with an introduction to robotics course. If you would like to learn the ropes on robotics, we have a course that is designed by experts! You will get to learn machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics concepts that’ll take you anywhere. If you’re interested, explore the course here: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robotics for Beginners!

References

Robots to patrol Toa Payoh Central for 3 weeks to detect ‘undesirable social behaviour’

Foodpanda Advances Future Of Delivery With Autonomous Delivery Partnerships

How robots are revolutionalising the guest experience at Jewel

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