The heads at FIFA love to use the World Cup to debut or amplify new tech in one way or another. This year will see (in part, we’re sure) a new sort of assistant joining the security teams in Mexico.
Specifically, the event will have robot dogs on patrol, according to a report from the Manila Times. Four of them, to be precise, will be patrolling areas of Guadalupe this June for the footballing event. They’ll be escorting police officers, because FIFA isn’t quite powerful enough for its own private army. Not yet.
FIFA, you sly dog
The Mexican city’s mayor, Héctor García, says that the robot dogs, purchased by the city’s council, will act as front-line responders and scouts. Any altercations or sketchy situations will see the so-called K9X units sent in to investigate first. They could also issue warnings that… well, that the cops are coming. The ‘bots will feature live video streaming and two-way audio, after all.
The report doesn’t specify which robot dog will be involved in the upcoming FIFA event patrols, but it looks very similar to Unitree’s Go2 robotic canine. It’s identical in design, except for the Mexican police insignia.
Unitree’s G02 isn’t quite as hardcore as the company’s A2, but it does ship with LIDAR, 4G/GPS functions, and voice functions. Unitree’s X model, which is the likely candidate based on the ‘K9X’ moniker, weighs about 15 kilograms and supports a payload of 8kg or so.
