MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Knightscope, Inc., an advanced physical security technology company, is issuing its first incident report regarding operation of its Autonomous Data Machines.
Incident on July 7, 2016: A K5 Autonomous Data Machine (Machine Identification Number 13) was patrolling at a local shopping center when, at approximately 2:39pm PDT, a child left the vicinity of his guardians and began running towards the machine. The machine veered to the left to avoid the child, but the child ran backwards directly into the front quarter of the machine, at which point the machine stopped and the child fell on the ground. The machine’s sensors registered no vibration alert and the machine motors did not fault as they would when encountering an obstacle. Once the guardians retrieved the child and the path was clear, the machine resumed patrolling. The entire incident lasted a few seconds and a scrape on the child’s leg and a bruise with minor swelling were reported.
Track Record: K5 Autonomous Data Machines have driven over 25,000 miles and have been in operation for over 35,000 hours typically traveling at approximately 1 mph without any reported incidents. There have been thousands of encounters with adults, children and both large and small pets documented daily on social media that have also taken place without any reported incidents. Each K5 hosts nearly 30 sensors, including a multitude of laser ranging devices, sonar sensors and a robust software stack, allowing machines the capability to sense the surrounding environment from less than an inch away to over 300 feet.
Knightscope has reached out to the family on numerous occasions without reply. The Company is, therefore, publicly extending a formal apology for the freakish accident, and is extending an invitation to the family to meet at Knightscope’s Headquarters in Mountain View to learn more about the technology. The meeting would also allow the family to speak directly to the team and convey their experience since they have indicated their primary concern and motivator is to prevent another incident from occurring. The entire Knightscope team also wishes to respectfully apologize in person and learn from this incident.
The commercialization of autonomous technology has been under development by many companies for some time now. And similar to those other companies with emerging technologies, Knightscope is committed to continuous improvement, and has been for over three years. The Company stands by its stated mission to serve the community in the interest of public safety and will do so for decades to come.
“Our first thoughts are for the family and we are thankful there were no serious injuries,” said William Santana Li, chairman and chief executive officer, Knightscope, Inc. “Our primary mission is to serve the public’s overall safety, and we take any circumstance that would compromise that mission very seriously.”
About Knightscope, Inc.
Knightscope is an advanced security technology company that utilizes Software + Hardware + Humans to provide its customers with new groundbreaking anomaly detection capabilities. In an increasingly volatile world, we are developing one of the most important technologies to come out of Silicon Valley that will empower the public and private sectors to proactively build stronger, safer communities, ultimately saving money and lives. Crime has a $1 trillion negative economic impact on the U.S. every single year and our long-term mission is to cut it in half. Learn more at www.knightscope.com
