No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world CondensedPossum @lemmy.world 1 mo. ago

What GPU is inside Mall Cop Robots?

I'm just wondering about the internal components on mall cop robots like the Knightscope K5. It must be using a GPU and some pretty nice cameras, right? These are common models found in the United States. I have worked closely with knockoff BD dogs, I'm not talking about those, I'm talking about the Dalek looking things.

24 comments

Just remember that abducted robot cops can sometimes remember their past even if you erase their memories. But good luck on your new project
- Especially Cyberdyne systems, they are a learning computer.
Inside what? I've never heard of this. They don't shoot people in the dick, do they?
PBMCG (Paul Blart Mall Cop Graphics)

_sorry.
The giant suppositories are usually using nvidia (like everyone else in ai). The cuda/tensor cores are just easier to tap than the AMD equivalent.
- Have you seen a teardown or something like that anywhere?
  
  nope. and you won't see that anywhere, either. those things are ridiculously expensive (and generally less capable than humans.). IfIxit can't exactly afford to buy one. (well. they could. probably. but it's a limited audience.)
  
  I happen to have some inside knowledge on a particularly laughable suppository, though.
Jesus, the Knightscope K5 even looks like a Dalek.
My guess is that the most expensive single component would be the lidar. Prices on lidars can be well over $100k. When I worked with lidar about 5 years ago, IIRC a Velodyne 128 was $160k. These robots would probably be using a 32 though, which is probably going to be less than 1/4 of a 128.

Also, Velodyne and Ouster merged since I last used lidar. Ouster does in-device sensor fusion, which likely takes a significant load off the CPU and potentially GPU, meaning these robots may be able to get away with lower spec CPU and GPU.

It appears that Ouster now does object detection, which is another reason these could get away with lower spec GPUs (assuming they're using Ouster)

Obviously there's a lot of speculation in my response, but since there's no teardown of the robot, and without spec sheets or a BOM, all we can do is speculate.
- Thanks for the actual input, people who haven't worked around this kind of hardware are mostly limited to goofing around like it's sci-fi when it's mostly John Deere style nonsense
- Dang my $65 robot vacuum has lidar.
Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s vulnerable to a short-range EMP burst. Just make sure to leave your phone and smartwatch at home.

Local municipalities only have so much in their budgets for this crap, and these things are very expensive. If enough of them fail/are destroyed/go missing forever… well, the local budget won’t be able to keep replacing them indefinitely…
- There aren't short-range EMP burst emitters, that's sci-fi pretend. These are real robot flashlight caddies they deploy at outdoor malls in Ohio.
  
  I suppose a nuclear ICBM could be considered a long range EMP burst emitter. And a nuclear ICBM would be effective at disabling a robot cops but it's probably overkill.
  
  there is the thing you could do with a disposable camera but we are talking extreme short range. You would need to have an idea where to lay it if it even could get far enough to work and your watch phone would be fine in your pocket.
- they are probably vulnerable to being stolen and stripped for parts.
  
  probably some expensive shit in there.
  
  Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Just need to throw some foil on it and you've got a very expensive new buddy.

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