Marvin keeps eye on security

By CATHY ARONSON

A security robot called Marvin is patrolling the corridors of Waikato University.

Marvin ("Mobile Autonomous Robotic Vehicle for Indoor Navigation") is one of a kind, despite resembling a Dalek from Doctor Who and sharing his name with a paranoid android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Science students at the university's mechatronics laboratory built the 1.5m-high Machine, which runs on two 12-volt car batteries and can patrol the university corridors at up to 35 km/h.

Using a 360-degree camera and a laser rangefinder, he can alert security staff to intruders or unfamiliar objects.



The robot cannot exterminate people in Dalek fashion but is not far from thinking like a human.

Mechatronics project leader Dale Carnegie said that by the end of the year the $10,000 robot would have a higher level of artificial intelligence than it has now.

Using neural networking programmes, based on human brain patterns, Marvin would constantly learn and adapt to his environment.

"We are no longer reinventing the wheel, we are starting to create. But Marvin will soon be learning for himself, so he doesn't need his creator. We just have to decide the level to which you want to get rid of humans."

Marvin will be hooked up by satellite to a global positioning system, GPS, so he can navigate any room or floor.

His voice recognition will be advanced, so that he accepts commands only from his creators.

Mr Carnegie said Marvin was a learning tool and he was not sure if a security robot was commercially viable.

"Once Marvin is completely functional his skills can be applied to anything."

Marvin was unique in New Zealand, but similar robots, including an office postie, had been developed overseas.

The laboratory is working on further robotics projects with agricultural applications.