Daily Times

Interior Ministry of Tunisia has deployed a police robot to patrol areas of the capital – Tunis – to ensure that people are observing the coronavirus lockdown.

The police robot is known as PGuard. The ‘robocop’ is remotely operated and equipped with infrared and thermal imaging cameras, in addition to a sound and light alarm system.

Interior ministry posted images and soundtracks of the robot on its official website. PGuard calls out to suspected violators of the lockdown: “What are you doing? Show me your ID. You don’t know there’s a lockdown?”

Since March 2, at least 14 people have died from coronavirus in the country where 455 persons have tested positive for the disease.

The robot’s Tunisian creator Anis Sahbani said the machine was first produced in 2015 essentially to carry out security patrols and it also operates autonomously through artificial intelligence.

The robot, built by Sahbani’s Enova Robotics firm, costs between $100,000 and $140,000 and has been selling mostly to companies overseas for security uses.

A number of the robots have been donated to the interior ministry.

Based in the eastern city of Sousse, the company is now planning to deploy another robot in a Tunis hospital to help coronavirus patients communicate with relatives.

And a third one is being produced and should be operational by the end of April in hospitals as part of a process to determine which patients are likely infected with Covid-19.

The ‘robocop’ deployed in Tunis has been a hit on social media with users posting footage of the machine in action in several parts of the capital.