Yzabelle Bostyn
A ROBOT dog has joined a local police force on the Costa del Sol and will soon patrol the streets.
Residents of Malaga could soon have a very different kind of cop enforcing the law.
The Universidad de Malaga has developed a highly advanced robot dog using 5G technology.
The ‘police dog’ will patrol the streets of the centre, helping local forces to control security in the area.
It is an autonomous robot with numerous sensors which will help it navigate Malaga and detect crimes.
The robot, which has not yet been named, will be able to patrol the city centre using a private 5G network reaching from Calle Larios to the Plaza de Uncibay.
To start with it will be accompanied by local police officers and an operator to carry out various tasks.
However, soon it will use artificial intelligence to carry out its own patrols.
It will be able to record videos, analyse images and report preset incidents like robberies and pick pocketing.
The ‘dog’ can also warn pedestrians of incoming e-scooters, which are banned in the historic centre.
The project, known as 5G Tactile, was designed by the Institute of Technology and Software Engineering (ITIS).
It is currently in the testing phase as researchers investigate how it responds to different events.
A team of 20 professors and 20 engineers have been working on the robot for 27 months and hope to finish it by the end of this year.
Despite this, it is unknown when it will officially join local police.
The project is part of a collaboration with the Unit of Defense and Telephone Security alongside the Spanish SME, Alysis.
It was funded by the Spanish Government’s Next Generation programme.
