Man arrested for 'assaulting' robot

The Knightscope K5 droid (pictured) was allegedly assaulted. Photo / Knightscope

Police have charged a man who drunkenly attacked a robotic patrol droid in a car park in the United States, after the device called them for help.

The attack happened in the car park of technology maker Knightscope's headquarters in Mountain View, California, on April 19, authorities said.

Jason Sylvain, 41, was intoxicated when he came across the K5 droid, which was conducting patrols around the building as part of product testing.

Despite the robot weighing a whopping 135kg, he managed to tip it over.

It detected the danger and automatically alerted authorities to an intruder on the property, before emitting a loud siren.

Sylvain tried to flee but was detained by two employees who'd heard the robot's distress alarm.

Knightscope's vice president of marketing Stacy Dean Stephens told CNET the machine did exactly what it was designed to do.

"The 'assault' was detected and immediately reported," Stephens said.

"The alarms on the robot sounded, the suspect attempted to flee the scene and was detained by one of my colleagues and me until the Mountain View Police arrived."

Sylvain now faces prowling and public intoxication charges.

It's not the first time an independently operating robot has faced trouble in the real world.

EXCLUSIVE PHOTO: evidence of vandalized hitchhiking robot in #philly. #hitchBOTinUSA trip is over.... pic.twitter.com/VAjvGQzF3u

— 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚆𝙱𝚉 (@AndreaWBZ) August 1, 2015

A droid that set out to hitchhike across the US lasted two weeks before it was brutally vandalised in Philadelphia in 2015.

And a robotic shop assistant in Japan was kicked by a drunken man in the same year.