Link: https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/robotic-lifeguard-changes-water-rescues
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/new-robot-lifeguard-will-save-people-from-drowning
Robot lifeguard … at pools.
So if your kid falls in, they don’t drown if you’re not around.
(wake me when that happens)
(it seems like a trivial problem – or is it?)
Think about the swimming pool scene in the movie “Caddyshack” (1980), how does a robot navigate that scenario? – lots of kids screaming, superficially they seem like they’re drowning.
A heuristic database might include a rule that says: “must be below the surface, this long …” … That’s a simple rule. As long as the robot can determine if a child has been below the surface too long – but this too gets harder as you add children to the pool, or other objects.
It’s not a non-trivial problem.
- threat detection
- spoofing
- belligerent human
