Chinese police have developed a robot that fights nightmarish crimes

In a scene straight out of Black Mirror, Chinese police roll out their newest innovation in autonomous AI-powered street crime fighting: a spherical, indestructible, powerful, heavily armed device that looks like a giant bowling ball.

Developed by Shenzhen-based Logon Technology Company, the RT-G is a Swiss Army Knife of crime-busting technology.

According to reports, the robot will be powered by AI, which will help it recognize the faces of suspects and report suspicious activity to law enforcement, and will also have on-board tear gas canisters, a super-loud sound wave transmission horn and even a gun that can ensnare a suspect. It is supposed to withstand an impact of up to four tons.

Several videos posted on social media this week have gone viral, showing the robot patrolling the streets of various small Chinese cities.

On TikTok, People's Daily, China's official state media, uploaded a video of a human SWAT team marching with the killer bowling ball in the Chinese coastal city of Wenzhou. A much less menacing looking robot dog is also featured.

The design of the RT-G is based on the work of a team of researchers from Zhejiang University's State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology published in a research paper last year.

The goal of the original design was to operate in “uncharted environments” such as the Moon or Mars.

Now it seems that the Chinese government intends to use it on the streets of various Chinese cities, including Chengdu, where it has been made public. The RT-G has a ten-hour battery life, can travel up to 21 miles per hour and withstand an impact of up to four tons.

“Exploring difficult and unknown environments, such as forests, fire areas and underground tunnels, is very dangerous,” the researchers wrote. “Using mobile robots to replace humans in these navigation tasks can effectively ensure human health and safety.”

The RT-G's mobility is powered by a heavy internal pendulum encased in its circular shell. For sci-fi fans, BB-8 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens or Droidekas from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace may come to mind. While those droids primarily operated on land, the RT-G was designed to operate underwater as well.

Unlike humanoid robots that are subject to violent shocks, the RT-G's round shape ensures it doesn't fall flat on its face. One of the advantages of the design, the researchers said, is that because the robot is spherical, it cannot be moved by flipping the robot onto its back.

But are these the droids we're looking for?

Until now, similar devices were intended to explore outer space. In the year In 2001, NASA experimented with the idea of ​​using a two-story tall beach ball, the Tubular Rover, to explore the surface of Mars.

And in the year In 2004, Stamford, Connecticut-based GuardBot launched its spherical drone, developed for the European Space Agency's mission to Mars. The US Navy and Marine Corps began testing GuardBots for surveillance missions in 2015.

Whether the RT-G heralds a new robotic frontier or goes down in Internet celebrity history, one thing is clear: Hollywood may have found its next action blockbuster star. Rubber 2: The tire kicks back, who's up?

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair and Josh Kittner