FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Twin Arrows Casino Resort guests can expect to catch a new electronic force watching over their safety following the launch of its security robot Saturday.
It’s not in a galaxy far, far away. This security robot is right here in Arizona at Twin Arrows Casino Resort, but its mission is very much like that of R2-D2.
The Knightscope K5 is here to save the day.
Resort staff teamed up with Knightscope engineers in the Silicon Valley to create the nearly 400-pound autonomous robot.
The location was the first in the state and only the second in the nation with one of these robots.
The K5 can roam the property to collect real-time data, track cars and play pre-recorded messages—sound familiar, Star Wars fans?
The resort’s director of security, Joe Gustafson, said Friday, there was no need for K5’s human co-workers to panic; it’s not replacing them.
“It’s basically going to do the mundane, monotonous stuff that our security officers were tied up doing, send all that information back to us or our human officers and supervisors to make more accurate decisions and deal with more complex situations involving other people,” Gustafson said.
Though this robot has thermal imaging and can detect humans in places they’re not supposed to be, it won’t be taking out any storm troopers. That remains the job of a robot in a galaxy far, far away.