It seems that, the machines are here to stay, slowly, but surely, taking out jobs that were once only for humans. In the movie Robocop, a remake of the 1987 film of the same name, fictional character Alex Murphy is a part human, part mechanical being, but the real life Robot Cops from Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is purely mechanical.
The local government came up with the idea to place two giant, solar-powered aluminum robots equipped with a number of cameras and instead of officers to direct traffic and pedestrians, as well as to hand out tickets.
And no, unless you trick him/her/it with a software treat, these robot-wardens won’t accept any bribes or excuses.
Speaking to CCTV Africa, Isaie Therese, the engineer in charge of the development of the Robot Cops, commented:
“If a driver says that it is not going to respect the robot because it’s just a machine the robot is going to take that and there will be a ticket for him. We are a poor country and our government is looking for money. And I will tell you that with the roads the government has built, it needs to recover its money.”
According to a CNN report, the eight-foot tall anthropomorphic traffic officers work 24-hours a day (unlike humans who need a break and rest), and come complete with rotating chests, green and red alert lights, moving arms and can even speak to inform pedestrians when to cross the road in safety.
“The traffic is a big problem in the rush hours,” Vale Manga Wilma, president of the DRC’s National Commission for Road Safety told the news station. “With the robots’ policemen intelligence, the road safety in Kinshasa becomes very easy.”
You can learn more about Kinshasa’s robots in the video story from CCTV posted below.
By John Halas
VIDEO