The devastating losses at events in Newtown, Boston and similar cities across America weigh heavily on one's heart.
Imagine if we could utilize technology to make
our communities stronger and safer together, Today.
Picture something mobile and autonomous that can see, hear, feel and smell. Something that will tirelessly watch over your corporate campus and neighborhood to keep your colleagues and loved ones safe.
Imagine no longer. The future is here today. It's affordable, friendly, intelligent and best of all, it's available NOW!
The Knightscope team is comprised of a number of seasoned entrepreneurs with experiences at numerous start-ups.
Additionally, the team has worked at Ford, Volkswagen, Deloitte, Stanford University and in law enforcement, and has been educated at a number of the nation's top universities.
A: Knightscope is made up of dedicated, community-minded entrepreneurs passionate about predicting and preventing crime. This talented and resourceful team developed an autonomous technology platform that fuses robotics, predictive analytics and collaborative social engagement to seek out unlawful activities within a geo-fenced area.
A: Knightscope is headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Mountain View, California.
A: The Company was incorporated in April 2013.
A: Knightscope was originally founded in response to the tragic events at Sandy Hook and the Boston Marathon. We believed that with a unique combination of hardware and software we could greatly reduce crime by crowdsourcing security. In order to accomplish that, we will provide the public with open, transparent access to real-time data and alerts and allow them to contribute important information to authorities. Together, we will more rapidly and effectively secure our communities, and save money while doing so!
A: The Knightscope K5 is an autonomous robot that provides a commanding but friendly physical security presence. The K5 gathers important real-time, on-site data through its numerous sensors, which is then processed through apredictive analytics engine. There it is combined with existing business, government and crowdsourced social data sets to determine if there is a concern or threat in the area. If so, an issue is created with an appropriate alert level and a notification is sent tothe community and authorities through the Knightscope Security Operations Center (KSOC), a browser based user interface.
A: For a basic version, we will offer a fully inclusive "Machine-as-a-Service" (MaaS) at $6.25 per hour. Knightscope is focused on clients seeking 1, 2 or 3-year subscriptions utilizing 24-hour deployments.
A: The Knightscope K5 may be used in many industries and environments. The human attention span during monotonous, boring tasks is only 5-10 minutes. And with employee turnover rates as high as 400%, the security industry is rightfully seeking innovative solutions. Knightscope’s primary goal is to allow customers to utilize the best of Silicon Valley to put machines to work in those routine, monotonous and sometimes dangerous situations, thus freeing up humans to do the more hands-on and strategic activities. Corporate campuses, data centers, shopping malls and private security companies are among the many customers already engaged today (think corporate espionage, rogue networks, asset protection, etc.).
A: The Knightscope K5 is fully autonomous and can navigate through an environment with moving objects. The technology is similar to that being utilized by the autonomous cars that actively drive the streets of Silicon Valley today.
A: In the long-term, Knightscope intends to live stream any and all information gathered when we push a safety alert to the community and the authorities with full transparency. We can leverage the social media infrastructure and make crowdsourcing security a reality. Technology will save lives and improve society.
A: Interestingly, a person's picture is taken approximately 30 times per day in public without threatening individual privacy. Generally speaking, expectation of privacy in public areas is not necessarily logical (with emphasis on the word ‘public’). Privacy is recognized in areas such as one’s residence, phone booths, hotel rooms and places provided to ensure privacy like a conference room or restroom. Knightscope is focused on outdoor environments away from those private spaces. The real threat is violence, which we are working hard to curtail.
A: Absolutely not. There will always be a need for human security guards to do the strategic work. With the K5, we extend human security guards’ awareness by providing them with relevant, real-time information to make the appropriate decisions. Also, with the K5 you don’t have to worry about employee turnover, which has plagued the industry for some time.
A: No, they are intended to help and assist officers, improve response times and keep them out of harm's way if possible.
A: The Knightscope K5 autonomously recharges itself periodically, preventing long periods of downtime and allowing for the transfer of data to the cloud or to a server. It is designed to handle operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
A: Unfortunately, there is no such thing as "bulletproof." The Knightscope K5 is ruggedized and protected against vandalism. Its size and sensor payload also contribute to its durability.
A: The K5 is a friendly community tool used exclusively to deliver relevant and real-time information to the appropriate authorities, not to enforce the law. It is an additional set of intelligent eyes and ears used to help security and law enforcement professionals do their jobs more effectively.
A: We have identified several options such as proximity sensors, several alarm stages and vandal-proof coatings to protect the K5, but we can’t give away all of our secrets.
A: The automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) sensor already incorporates an infrared sensor. For the environmental conditions, we employ a sensor that detects temperature, humidity, CO2, and barometric pressure.
A: Communication at the K5 utilizes 802.11n WiFi and WPA2 with enterprise encryption, while the Knightscope Security Operations Center (KSOC) uses secure sockets layer for data transmission. We can, however, accommodate other common encryption methods as required by our clients.
A: The Knightscope K5 visually observes its surroundings through the use of video cameras and license plate recognition devices. While the K5 is unique in appearance and delivery system, the security service that it provides is already commonly accepted in the public domain with fixed security camera systems. It is proactively seeking out anomalies that might suggest criminal activity – e.g., aggressive or furtive gestures – and alerting proper authorities when a concern is detected.
A: Knightscope will work with each customer to determine the ideal location to store data and the lifespan of each data set.
A: The K5 sensor payload will include light detection and ranging (LIDAR) devices; high-definition, low-light video cameras; automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera; directional microphones; proximity sensors; inertial measurement unit; wheel odometry unit; and a global positioning system (GPS).
A: The K5 utilizes publicly available data from businesses, government and social data feeds as well as the raw data captured from each sensor on its payload.
A: Knightscope utilizes commercially available, off-the-shelf sensors that are already proven safe and effective for everyday use.
A: Yes. Fail-safe measures will be implemented to ensure the security of the data.
A: Safety is critical at Knightscope, so the K5 will only operate at speeds that are reasonable and prudent for the surrounding conditions. Although the K5 is capable of faster speeds, it will primarily operate in the 1-3 mph range under normal circumstances.
A: Each K5 operates within a predefined geo-fenced area. And much like a human, the K5 does not rely solely on one sensor to determine its current location and plot a directional path. It utilizes data from multiple sensors – LIDAR, GPS,inertial and wheel odometry sensors – to develop a complete picture of its environment and determine a position within those boundaries. The K5 then carefully navigates, fully autonomously, along a random path seeking to thwart any evildoers.
A: Knightscope is currently laser focused on the US market and, more specifically, the Silicon Valley area. Crime is a global issue that must be addressed and future exports will be determined after the platform is proven completely successful locally.
A: In terms of machine health, a dashboard will be provided as part of the Knightscope Security Operations Center (KSOC) offering to look at overall network health as well as the health of each individual machine.
A: Yes. The K5 is constantly monitoring its own health and will optimize charge times and durations, as well as take advantage of opportunistic charging, in order to ensure consistent power levels and performance.
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