Robot To Serve Security Detail At FIFA World Cup In Brazil

Hallie Siegel writes "PackBots will be deployed in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup Soccer season to bring a high-tech approach to security. The nation's government has secured a $7.2 million deal with PackBot's creators for 30 of the military bots. The robots will be stationed throughout Brazil's 12 host cities, during the soccer matches to boost security and help examine any suspicious objects."

RoboCops

[Anonymous Coward]

What could possibly go wrong...

Re:

[Mitreya]

What could possibly go wrong...

Exactly. I wonder how much of that $7.2M has been earmarked to pay off damages/compensation, should anything go wrong?

Re:RoboCops

[opusman]

Drop your weapons. You have 20 seconds to comply.

Re:

[OzPeter]

What could possibly go wrong...

Quite a lot [imdb.com] from what I have seen

More cherry

[justthinkit]

I was hoping for something a little more cherry [imdb.com].

Fox just had show that showed what can happen

[Joe_Dragon]

http://www.tv.com/shows/almost... [tv.com]

Obligatory...

[Anonymous Coward]

Number 5, is alive!

Re: Obligatory...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually the obligatory comment should be "It's football, not soccer!"

Will they be team branded?

[rusty0101]

Since these bots have been as widely used in combat zones, I'm wondering how many are in the black market, and of that population, how many are already in Brazil, and outside of the control of the local security forces that will be using the ones that are authorized. As a result I wonder if the ones that are being delivered to the security forces are going to be branded in some way to make it difficult for people possessing the black market variety devices (or since there are many pictures and videos of the

Re:

[gl4ss]

why would you need to buy a friggin rc car on steroids from the black market? why not just call them up... they're just going to be possible bomb inspection bots anyhow and not roaming free in terminator mode..

Re:

[rusty0101]

The reason to buy (if at all) one on the black market, is for the appearance of authenticity. As far as how one would be used would be to "stage" a bomb incident, with the bot "disarming" the bomb, an "inspection/cleanup" team (in paramilitary gear to mask their identity) "clearing" the area, then as everyone thinks the area is clear, the real bomb, or bombs are triggered in the crowd. Not only do you end up having the effects of the bombing, but you end up discrediting the security forces being used to pro

Re:

[gl4ss]

well if you have people appearing in paramilitary gear would they bother with fake bomb bots? kinda unnecessarily complex plot. (south america has plenty of paramilitaries though).

but skipping acquiring some remote control inspection units just because some revolutionaries might have some would be pretty stupid.. and spectators at the games haven't read this pr anyways.

Lisarb: a country in reverse.

[motufero]

The president here in Brazil said recently she would put the army in the cities to "ensure safety" against protests (many here do not agree with this overspending cup). Now this ...

You have 5 Seconds to Comply

[xianzombie]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/... [metacafe.com]

Sonny Corleone Make Over courtesy of ED-209

Oh...

[dohzer]

...so the same the "robots" that have been defusing bombs everywhere for about the last ten years?!

Are the games even going to happen here

[litehacksaur111]

The stadium is like 6 months behind schedule and has suffered from numerous accidents including fire damage. I think this is the least of their troubles at the moment.

Wrong country to try this...

[Luiz de Viveiros]

They want to have a $100k piece of equipment walking around in Brasil? They are getting stolen before the 20 seconds are up! "Drop your weapons. You have 20 seconds to comply. Do not approach. Do not lift this unit. Do not place unit in van. Help!"