23 AUGUST 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Robocop it Ain’t by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC First a disclaimer: I’m not a fan of the movies. On average, I watch about three movies per year so I’m not much of a videophile and have never seen the movie Robocop. Please understand if I miss something. Judging from the reviews I’ve read, Robocop is some sort of super robot enforcer; a superior “officer” capable of most any law enforcement task. Reality is often quite different than what you see on the “silver screen.” Townhall.com reported that New York City trialed several patrol robots and purchased two “Digidogs” for about $750,000. Check out his link: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2023/04/12/new-york-pd-unveils-police-robot-to-patrol-subways-n2621859 These five-foot two-inch, 400-pound egg-shaped robots are loaded with technology, with over a dozen microphones, 360degree camera, sonar and lidar sensors, as well as a license plate reader. Pretty impressive, right? Like, what could go wrong? Of course these robots have limitations like every computer product. For one, if the battery runs low because someone forgets to charge it, these things become nothing more than million-dollar boat anchors. This robot also cannot negotiate stairs or street curbs. If someone were to push it into the bushes, it would lose traction and stay there indefinitely until someone pulled it out - probably with a tow truck. If some graffiti artist were to spray paint one or more of the sensors, this machine would be greatly impaired or even disabled as a consequence. And don’t forget the effects of cold weather on the batteries. All batteries lose capacity in cold weather, so its per-charge performance would be considerably reduced. This begs the question: why is anybody so eager to spend money on something that can be so easily damaged or disabled? Would you spend $50,000 on a car that could be totaled by a minor fender bender? There are more than enough perils out there in the real world to challenge the durability of even a well-made product. Wikipedia defines durability as: “The ability of a physical product to remain functional, without requiring excessive maintenance or repair, when faced with the challenges of normal operation over its design lifetime.” And what about service or repairs? One cannot just take this “Robocop” down to the local repair shop to get it worked on. These are custom, one-of-a-kind machines. You can’t just “pop the hood” and start replacing parts. This machine also cannot defend itself from someone who would want to damage or destroy it. Maybe it could send a signal, seeking help somewhere, but until that person arrived it would be out of commission indefinitely. Please note the emphasis on “person.” Another robot will not come to the rescue. With all of the talk about computers/robots taking over the world someday, these computers/robots are not making a very good showing so far. If these products are so unreliable and easy to defeat, they aren’t much use to anybody. As I’ve said in the past, computers are very useful, cost-effective, and reliable in a number of disciplines, but this isn’t it. Computers are great for monitoring actions or operations; logging numerical values for easy evaluation and reference; and providing basic control functions like: if this well-defined event happens, then do that. Computers also have memories far superior to ours. So I submit we should concentrate on fully utilizing these excellent qualities and dispense with the stuff they are clearly not suited for. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Education opportunities can be found by clicking here online at: worldwidedrillingresource.com Education Connection See UIC 2024 event photos on page 52.
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