Security robot drowns during patrol

The Knightscope K5 security robot was patrolling a Washington DC office park on MOnday when it met its untimely demise. Apparently the robot rolled too close to the fountain stairs for its own good. From The Guardian:

Stacy Dean Stephens, vice president of marketing and sales at Knightscope, told Cnet that it was an "isolated incident" for the K5 unit and that "no people were harmed or involved in any way..."

Since taking the streets in limited numbers, the K5 patrol bot, which is apparently packed with sensors to be the smart eyes and ears for its human law enforcement colleagues, has had its fair share of incidents. In April, a K5 patrolling the mean streets of Google-home-town Mountain View, California was allegedly involved in a carpark altercation with a 41-year-old man, while in July 2016 another K5 unit was accused of running over a 16-month-old child in a Stanford shopping centre.

Steps are our best defense against the Robopocalypse

(Security robot down at Georgetown harbor) pic.twitter.com/eVf7YUJX1j

- Peter W. Singer (@peterwsinger) July 17, 2017