People who go out to exercise during the Covid-19 pandemic in Singapore’s parks may come across a curious visitor: a robot that moves like a dog and reminds sportsmen to keep their distance.
With great agility, the robot, yellow and black in color and named Spot, transits the roads and grassy areas, while emitting several messages.
Let’s keep Singapore healthy. For your own safety and that of those around you, please stay at least one meter away. Thank you, ”he says in a woman’s voice and in English, one of four commonly used in this prosperous Asian nation.
The remotely controlled robot is part of a two-week pilot program organized by various city-state government agencies as part of the plan to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the daily The Straits Times published this Saturday.
With sensors to detect objects and avoid collisions, Spot also has cameras that help authorities estimate the number of people visiting areas of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, in the center of the island of Singapore.
Although Spot is always accompanied by a worker from the Department of Natural Parks in case problems arise.
During the test time, the robot will transit along a route of about 3 kilometers and only at peak times, but if it is successful, it could extend its schedule and territory, and even be used in other green areas of the megalopolis.
Singapore, which was cited by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an example of how to control the pandemic, currently registers a progressive decrease in cases after the outbreak in April in the barracks of unskilled workers.
Singaporean authorities acted quickly and firmly from the outset to curb the virus, but left unprotected the modest blocks where these outsiders live, who handle the toughest jobs and mostly come from the countries of the Indian subcontinent.
Last Saturday the health authorities confirmed 753 new infected, most of them in the aforementioned barracks, bringing the total number of cases to 22,460, including 20 deaths.
