Taser-equipped police bot will clean up lawless Waukesha, Wisconsin

Law enforcement officials across the country have been using robots for some time now to scope out potential bomb threats, intervene in hostage crises, and make dozens of fresh donuts each day, but a new bot being developed for the Waukesha Police Department is the first one we've seen endowed with a potentially lethal weapon. After researching all of the pre-built tactical bots on the market, Waukesha officer Daniel Baumman decided that none met the specific needs of his unit, so he cleverly recruited student volunteers from the Milwaukee School of Engineering to design one for him; in a classic win-win situation, the students get academic credit for building the killbot out of donated parts, while the city gets free tech and only has to pay for fuel and maintenance. Although this real-life Robocop has already proven its skill at negotiating unfamiliar structures -- even climbing up and down stairs -- the students have not yet been able to implement a radio-control system that works reliably through walls, severely limiting its utility. Once they finally find a wireless standard that can operate through physical impediments, the little bot will be tasked with assisting the department in diffusing dangerous standoffs: not only can it seek out an armed criminal holed up in a building, its on-board Taser allows it to incapacitate the target with extreme prejudice. This is all well and good, but we sure don't want to be around the first time Waukesha's policebot comes face-to-face with an E.D. 209, as the RPG- and machine gun-toting juggernaut will easily shrug off those few jolts of electricity and respond with a bot-killing storm of firepower.

[Via The Wireless Report]

[sunz @ Nov 14th 2006 2:26PM]

I miss Robo-Cop, they should make anohter one *sigh*

-sun

[Karl @ Nov 14th 2006 2:37PM]

Be afraid... be very afraid

[dextro @ Nov 14th 2006 2:43PM]

I for one welcome our robotic, police enforcing overlords.

[Poco153 @ Nov 14th 2006 2:44PM]

Crap, that's cool!

More the fact that I go to MSOE than the article, but still.

That's pretty sweet.

[erik kelly @ Nov 14th 2006 2:45PM]

i went to college in waukesha. must be trying to police the mexican population with as little effort as possible.

[Cameron @ Nov 14th 2006 2:48PM]

Is this really a robot or is more a really scary RC toy?

[Peter @ Nov 14th 2006 2:49PM]

"the students have not yet been able to implement a radio-control system that works reliably through walls", weel that is not much of a problem. Just have it first knock down the walls.

[Spartacus @ Nov 14th 2006 2:54PM]

Wow, and here I am, about to move to Waukesha...

Time to call up friends from the school of engineering and find out just what it takes to take over control of this thing once it's put in action. Ohh, to imagine those terrified police officers trying to shoot down their own bot as it turns on them tasering half the force.

If you've never had the pleasure of dealing with small town middle of nowhere cops, well, they can be a bit overzealous sometimes. Surely they'll be using this thing to root out potentially dangerous criminals such as 12 year olds downloading music and high schoolers smoking pot.

From http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=24592

Waukesha:
Crime: The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 96. The number of murders and homicides was 1. The violent crime rate was 1.4 per 1,000 people.

Why would a place like Waukesha ever, ever need something like this? Surely the world is about to end...

[BB @ Nov 14th 2006 3:08PM]

Why would you need this in Waukesha, you ask??

THIS is why:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=434814


And to the guy who said this was to control the mexican population... It's Puerto Rican. Don't call them mexicans or you WILL need this tazer-wielding robot overlord to contain their anger!!!

[Brent @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:27PM]

OK, so Waukesha has a couple crackheads, whatever. Like the family said, normally they lock the doors. Besides, it's 62% republican, she hit the 38% lottery and didn't get shot by the homeowner.

Also, tasers didn't work on that lady... they need to arm this thing with gas, or a flamethrower, or at least some heavy mechanized guns.

[kpfeif @ Nov 14th 2006 3:33PM]

I'm live in Waukesha and rarely see the police bots, let along the police, around. This seems like a stupid solution looking for a problem...and Waukesha apparently volunteered.

[WG @ Nov 14th 2006 3:40PM]

Here's another reason they need these robots!

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061110/D8L9VT481.html

Stop the false um... tick story pants pulling down... um, crime wave?

[Spartacus @ Nov 14th 2006 3:40PM]

So it's not really robocop... it's, well it's a pretty crappy 18" tall RC car with a tank w/tracks look to it, a camera mounted on top and a taser. True, if it showed up in my living room I'd be freaked out, but I think a sheet thrown over the top of it would be about enough to render this thing completely worthless.

picture here http://shared.conleynet.com/images/freeman/10262006_02.jpg

[Matt B @ Nov 14th 2006 3:49PM]

It would still fall to my axe.

[M. Rod Von Hugenstein @ Nov 14th 2006 4:01PM]

Bah, Call me when they put a million of these things on the southern border.

[flamer's grill @ Nov 14th 2006 5:23PM]

This is obviously the future of law enforcement. Looks like it's currently programmed for urban pacification, but that's just the beginning. After a successful tour of duty in Old Waukesha, we can expect the this taser bot to become the hot military product for the next decade.

Mr. Kinney, would you come up here and give us a hand?

[Justin @ Nov 14th 2006 8:30PM]

I lived in Waukesha for 6 years. . . this is the last thing they need.

[Night @ Jan 10th 2007 1:30PM]

This thing is a piece of crap..its like a little rc car ...if they ever build a fullblown human sized robot with more than a taser then ill be scared but not till then.

[joe @ Jul 15th 2007 8:20PM]

who ever is write this stuff is gay very gay lideral.lets just give up and let the criminal take over and had out drugs on the street like candy!!!!at one time police didnt have any nonleathel teck now thay have something even if not fully non leathel its still a step in the right direction no matter what anyone says

[pissed with cops @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:04PM]

cops don't know how to handle things in waukesha. With this being made for the cops, pry just as bad. Pathetic cops are only sitting around or handing out tickets.. They can't handle a thing properly. From my point of view cops from milwaukee are better and know when it's proper to use a stun gun. If neccesary at all

[shitty cops @ Oct 24th 2008 3:13PM]

I don't need a pathetic cops help cops. Cops are shitty are shitty and don't know how to reason. It's FACT !!!