Dubai Plans to Deploy Autonomous Police Cars

It’s no Robocop, but the O-R3 Autonomous Police Patrol could soon be guarding the streets of Dubai.

No, seriously, it’s not Robocop. Or the Terminator. Or Hal-9000. Or The Matrix. Or any other scary, Sci-Fi dystopia. Despite creepy features like an “advanced machine learning algorithm,” the O-R3 is little more than a mall cop … with a vastly superior intellect, no feelings or emotions, and infallibility (as far as its program goes).

And oh yeah, it’s about the size of a kiddie shopping cart.

The bot’s manufacturer, OTSAW Digital, assures us that the O-R3 won’t replace Johnny Law, but will instead perform “low-level order enforcement tasks” like 360 degree aerial and ground collaborative surveillance.

With the help of goodies like a laser scanner, thermal camera, HD cameras, GPS and lidar, and biometric software to identify criminals (or law-abiding citizens, depending on how the bot is employed), the O-R3 will patrol the streets and can even pursue suspects (though an oversized, black-tinted Big Wheel could be less-than-intimidating). And the bot is self-charging, so it can patrol 24/7.

The O-R3 also includes its own companion drone to fulfill its mission. Again, no Skynet. Just a somewhat benign automated patrol unit.

"We seek to augment operations with the help of technology such as robots. Essentially, we aim for streets to be safe and peaceful even without heavy police patrol," the commander of the Dubai Police Force, Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri.

And no, the irony of a country like Dubai employing a system like the O-R3 isn’t lost on me. I think Popular Mechanics put it best – “a country with a poor human rights record that loves robots.” And a country that regularly spies on its citizenry employing a bot that even Amnesty International could get behind.

Dubai hopes to deploy O-R3s by the end of the year and have them comprise 25% of their police force by 2030.