Security Robots. Do you welcome our new overlords?

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Birmingham’s Security Engineers is marketing a semi-autonomous robot that it says can reduce security costs by more than 30 percent.

The Security Engineers Semi-Autonomous Robot, or SESAR, is made to work best with another security officer who can directly respond to any incident. But the SESAR can patrol, identify potential threats or situations, and be used as a vehicle for communication.

“When SESAR identifies an issue our team is able to take the AI (Artificial Intelligence) verified alert and respond,” CEO Mike Hefner said. SESAR uses a chassis manufactured by Segway, and can be used like a Segway as a short-distance vehicle. But it also has real time video feeds with artificial intelligence-powered image classification, can sense motion, and handles surveillance, mapping and movement. It has autonomous movement or can be controlled by phone. The company also markets a smaller model.

Shelley Love Screws, marketing manager for Security Engineers, said the robot can be used in certain situations that might pose a danger to a person, such as an active shooter scenario. The SESAR could maneuver into position, allowing responders to speak through the two-way communication system on the robot. The device has been in demo mode for the past year before it was introduced to the market.

“It is very self-sufficient in that it returns itself to home for charging as the battery levels become low,” Hefner said.

SESAR units are currently designed for indoor use, but the company expects to have an indoor/outdoor unit in the fourth quarter of this year.

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