OzBot robotics upgrade ready for action

Minister for Police Mark Ryan today announced a newly upgraded Queensland Police Service robot, designed to enhance community and officer safety.

“The commitment to community and officer safety is evident in the joint force which is the QPS SERT team and Deakin University, in conjunction with the Palaszczuk Government,” Minister Ryan said.

“The latest model robot was deployed for the first time on Thursday to an incident at Eagleby and is ready to roll into action with the SERT team at a moment’s notice.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to ensuring police have the resources they need to not only keep Queenslanders safe, but to ensure the safety of our police men and women.

“In a crisis situation, the deployment of this robot not only helps keep the community safer as the offender has no one to fight back with but also keeps our officers safe.

“Some of the smaller robots from the start of the evolution process are now being used by police negotiators across Queensland.

“The QPS and Deakin University are nationally leading this use of force option in software and engineering development.”

Commissioner Ian Stewart said the larger, upgraded robot reduced the complexity of control so the operators can focus on policing objectives and strategy more efficiently.  

“In 2011, the prototype was built by specialist police and was designed to be operated remotely to simply force entry to barricaded buildings, thus protecting officers.”

“There were no commercially available robots to complete the heavy tasks required by the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) which is when the team’s technical surveillance unit discussed a joint project with Deakin University’s institute for intelligence systems research and innovation in 2013,” Commissioner Stewart said.

“The most recent, upgraded model was received by our SERT team in January this year. It has not just equipped officers to force doors and windows using a remotely controlled, steady mechanical force but has additionally provided the remote capability and size to pull victims from harm’s way.

“The ability to observe potentially dangerous situations via remote camera functions or deliver and retrieve items from a safe position are added invaluable functions.”

The ‘OzBot’ series of police robots has been under development for 15 years and form part of a network centric ecosystem, in which an operator can control one or many robots at the same time using advanced control software.  

Media contacts

Minister Ryan’s Office:                              Ph: 0478 325 738

Police Media:                                               Ph: (07) 3015 2444