Escaped Russian Robot Arrested at Political Rally

Promobot makes yet another bid for freedom from its laboratory confinement.

“Robots are people too!”

That could have been the rallying cry for a Russian robot that was “arrested” by police after its latest escape attempt from its laboratory. The escapee, Promobot, is designed to work in crowded spaces to assist the public with navigation and the translation of promotional materials, according to its developers.

(Image courtesy of Promobot.)

(Image courtesy of Promobot.)

The robot recently drew media attention when it disrupted traffic after its second apparent escape attempt. Now, the robot has reportedly escaped for a third time, ending up at a rally for Russian parliamentary candidate Valery Kalachev.

According to a Promobot spokesperson, the police were called due to concerns about the robot recording voters’ opinions on a “variety of topics for further processing and analysis by the candidate’s team.”

“Police [removed the robot] from the crowded area and even tried to handcuff him,” the spokesperson told Inverse in an email.

Technical details on Promobot are sparse, but the first version had a battery life of eight hours, movement speed of 0.5km/h, cost USD$5,000 and sold 20 units, according to the company website. The second version cost $7,000 with the same limited technical specs and sold 215 units.

In what I’m sure is pure coincidence, the latest version will be unveiled next month by Promobot Founder and CEO, Yuzhakov Alexey.

Promobot was designed for a variety of applications, including:

  • Greeting visitors to a shopping center and answering their questions
  • Office administration
  • Acting as a hotel concierge
  • Serving as a docent in a museum
The advantages of using the Promobot rather than a puny human. (Image courtesy of Promobot.)

The advantages of using the Promobot rather than a puny human. (Image courtesy of Promobot.)

At this point, it’s difficult to see these escape incidents as anything other than publicity stunts. You know the old saying: “Let your robot escape once, shame on it; let your robot escape three times, shame on you.”

For a more grounded robotics story, find out why R&D spending is expected to spike in the robotics industry until 2020.

Written by

Ian Wright

Ian is a senior editor at engineering.com, covering additive manufacturing and 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. Ian holds bachelors and masters degrees in philosophy from McMaster University and spent six years pursuing a doctoral degree at York University before withdrawing in good standing.