Blast investigations, prison cell searches: Home Team targets 2028 roll-out of humanoid robots
The new Home Team Humanoid Robotics Centre in One-North is the first of its kind dedicated specifically to humanoid robotics for public safety.
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SINGAPORE: Police officers conducting post-blast investigations and prison officers searching through inmates’ cells could soon be assisted by humanoid robots as early as 2028.
These are among the capabilities being developed and tested at the Home Team Humanoid Robotics Centre (H2RC) in One-North, which was officially opened on Wednesday (Sep 30).
“Our goal is clear. We aim to have the first humanoid robot working alongside Home Team officers in a real operational setting, performing defined tasks safely and reliably by 2028,” said Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong at the launch.
The H2RC is the first centre of its kind dedicated specifically to humanoid robotics for public safety, added Mr Tong, who is also law minister.
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The humanoid form was chosen for its ability to adapt to environments designed for humans, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) said in a media release.
“While the commercial sector is primarily focused on training humanoid robots for manufacturing, household and consumer applications, there is less focus on advancing embodied AI solutions for public safety needs,” said the agency.
Roughly the size of six basketball courts, the H2RC provides the space to set up realistic environments and detailed mock-ups of public safety scenarios that let engineers run tests and collect data.
It supports the end-to-end embodied artificial intelligence (AI) development cycle, including motion-capture systems that develop humanoid motor skills, teleoperation, human demonstration and simulation that generates training data.
In his speech, Mr Tong said the Home Team has over the years used science and technology to boost situational awareness, improve decision-making and support officers on the ground.
“Now I think it's time for us to think about taking the next leap to bring AI out of the digital world and into the physical world, through intelligent robots that can work alongside our officers in real operational environments,” he said.
POTENTIAL HOME TEAM USES
“Humanoids will be trained to augment human officers in carrying out routine, physically demanding or dangerous tasks, allowing officers to focus on work that requires judgement, empathy and discretion, while at the same time, keeping them safe,” said HTX.
At Wednesday's launch, it displayed four humanoid robots that are being developed.
They included one that can handle the containment, mitigation and sampling of hazardous materials (HazMat) for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), reducing officer exposure to dangerous substances.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) could also be assisted in post-blast investigations in the unstable, dirty and dangerous aftermath of an explosion, through a humanoid that can be controlled via a remote controller.
The robot is also able to kneel – something which is beyond the capabilities of commercial off-the-shelf humanoids – which lets it perform tasks close to the ground, according to HTX.
Humanoid robots could also be used by the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) for cell searches for contraband, by leveraging detection capabilities to enhance the thoroughness and effectiveness of inspections.
The “dexterous humanoid hands, fine motor control, and high-resolution tactile sensing” needed for the task will be explored moving forward, said HTX.
Lastly, the SCDF could see humanoid robots perform the routine and repetitive task of restocking medical supplies for ambulances.
SINGAPORE’S MANPOWER, LAND CONSTRAINTS
Mr Tong said that public safety agencies globally are harnessing technology to improve safety for officers.
For instance, firefighters in Paris sent a robot into the burning Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2019, and robots assisted in the Fukushima nuclear plant clean-up, operating in radioactive environments where no humans should go, he said.
Such adoption is especially crucial amid manpower limitations in Singapore, with a workforce that is ageing and will only grow older more quickly in the years ahead, said Mr Tong.
“The Home Team draws from the same limited pool as every other sector. Human resource in Singapore is finite, yet the demand for our services keeps rising. More medical emergencies will be inevitable from an older population, busier checkpoints, which we see, more complex crimes. And we can't solve this with sheer numbers alone,” he said.
Land constraints are another factor, as emergencies here unfold in a “dense, high-rise, densely populated, as well as close-proximity, increasingly underground city”.
“We don't have the luxury of having vast space or distance between one infrastructure to another, and incidents therefore often happen in tight spaces, close to people.
"Very often, these two factors mean that there's little, if not no, margin for error. At the same time, these incidents must be resolved quickly and precisely before the threat evolves or spreads,” said Mr Tong.
Mr Tong said that humanoids were chosen because “a robot with a human form can go where our officers can go, and use the tools that our officers use, without ourselves having to redesign the environment around it”.
The next step is to move beyond preprogrammed robots towards embodied AI, with robots that can learn, perceive, reason and act in dynamic, real-world environments, he said.
“But a robot trained for a factory floor will not know how to operate safely and effectively at a critical incident scene,” said Mr Tong.
“To make humanoids work for the Home Team, we must therefore train them with real public safety data. That is precisely what H2RC will enable us to do.”
H2RC will also bring together the expertise of relevant industry entities and the problem-solving know-how of research and academic institutions, said Mr Tong.
On Wednesday, HTX and ST Engineering also signed a memorandum of understanding to further their cooperation in the sector.
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