China develops first AI robot lifeguard to stand 24-hour watch over river
The device relies on an algorithm to tell when someone is in trouble and has been designed to work without any human involvement
Chinese scientists have designed the first AI-powered robot lifeguard, which is designed to operate without the need for any human involvement.
Researchers have been testing the robot at a riverside site in Luohe city in the central province of Henan and it will be stationed there permanently.
The robot uses artificial intelligence, big data and navigation and tracking technologies to operate 24 hours a day without any human control or presence, according to the team from the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences, an affiliate of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The lifeguard will use an algorithm to determine if someone is drowning and is equipped with a life-saving buoy and rescue arm to pull people out of the water if they are unable to grab hold of its sides unaided.
Drowning can be fast and silent and there is a critical period of five minutes or less to rescue someone, which means that a robot that can reach the scene more quickly than any human could make the difference between life and death.
The robot lifeguard is designed to operate within a designated stretch of water, and needs a network of 100 optical and thermal imaging cameras to provide 24-hour coverage of the whole area.
The camera footage is sent to a server that uses an algorithm to determine if someone is in trouble in the water, in which case it will deploy the lifeguard.
