INESC Porto revolutionises security with collaborative surveillance robot

1.2 million Euro project combines INESC Porto competences for innovative surveillance solution

INESC Porto is part of a 1.2 million Euro consortium for the development of the first ‘intelligent’ surveillance robot – the ROBVIGIL. A pioneer project in the world, this robot is characterised by mobility, autonomy and by its ability to cooperate with other robots and security operationals through tele and videoconference, thus working as a support to human activity. Gifted with sensors, the robot is also capable of assuring tasks that are potentially dangerous for humans, thus setting itself apart from the solutions currently available on the market. The ROBVIGIL project has a two-year duration and the first experimental units will be on the market in 2012.

The first ‘intelligent’ surveillance robot in the world

ROBVIGIL is the name of the project that kicked off in February by the hand if a 1.2 million Euro consortium that includes, besides INESC Porto, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Clever House – Sistemas Inteligentes, Lda. (project promoter), Portuguese distributers to the world leaders in civil robotics and security, Strong Segurança, S.A., Empresa de Segurança e Desenvolvimento de Soluções de Electrónica para Segurança, and Sinepower Consultoria, Projectos de Engenharia Electrónica, Lda., an electronics company.

The aim is ambitious: to develop the first ‘intelligent’ surveillance robot in the world, which will be used for security purposes and will work as an extension of the human operator on the field. Targeting mainly the large supermarkets/superstores, which have specific surveillance needs, the robot will provide added security in the sense that it is characterised by mobility, by autonomy and by its ability to cooperate with other robots via tele and videoconference. Although it is ideal for large spaces, according to Augustin Olivier, executive advisor to the Board of INESC Porto, coordinator of the Telecommunications and Multimedia Unit (UTM), and the person representing INESC Porto in this project, it is expected “that the final platform can be used in multiple areas”.

Robot performs tasks that are dangerous for man

Gifted with integrated sensors, such as microphone, detectors of intruders, gas, fire, smoke, floods, among others, the robot – alone or together with other mobile robots – is capable of interacting, in coordination with others, in the same physical space, and of assuring tasks that are potentially dangerous for man, thus reducing the surveillance operational costs and, above all, the human risks. The project is the result of the awareness that “surveillance systems have a set of tax-related limitations, and so a system set up by one or more surveillance robots, supported by an operation centre, would make it possible to overcome those  problems”, Augustin Olivier adds.

This is one of ROBVIGIL's differentiating factors: by being capable of doing rounds, of recognizing and following intruders (through video capture with 360 degree omnidirectional vision), and of guiding a mobile unit through dangerous environments (for instance, in the event of a gas leak, fire, etc.), the robots represent an added value as far as safety is concerned, working as a support to operationals in the field, and thus differentiating themselves from the solutions currently available on the market. From the point of view of the promoters, the intention is to develop an added value service, taking a particular space in an emerging market, transferring high-end technology to the industry, and strengthening an R&D team in the field of robotics, one of INESC Porto’s areas of expertise, and in the security of goods and people in particular.

INESC Porto’s competences in robotics explored

The foundations for this project are the technologies that had already been developed and tested previously in INESC Porto/FEUP projects, and that now have a high potential for exploration. In fact, as stated by Augustin Olivier, “ROBVIGIL is the result of a series of technologies developed by ROBIS [Robotics and Intelligent Systems Group], and by UTM, in the domain of video treatment, and by a set of complementary companies interested in benefiting from an innovative product”, he highlights. Moreover, “this project was only made possible due to a set of ongoing work, particularly the one carried out by Pedro Carvalho of UTM and the works that resulted from the robotics platform developed by ROBIS”, he adds.

In this project, “INESC Porto offers entrepreneurial promoters, not only its technical ability, but also the assurance that the project will succeed”, Augustin Olivier, adds with confidence. For the development of this work, the institute mobilises three of its Units: ROBIS, which contributes with the robotics platform and the self-localization algorithms; UTM, which will develop the potentialities of video (tracking) and safe wireless communications; and the Information and Computer Graphics Systems (USIG), which will create the management platform. With this, “we will be capable of transferring to the market, for the first time, a solution that is constituted by the developments achieved by three of INESC Porto’s Units and by several research lines, and so the project is innovative because it combines several competences”, he adds. With this multifaceted participation in several areas of expertise, INESC Porto promotes a culture of R&D and technological innovation in the areas of security and telesurveillance of goods and people with intelligent solutions.