NYPD buying $389K Wall-E style bomb robot for emergency service operations
The PackBot 525 — built by Brooklyn-based defense company FLIR — will be deployed by the department's Emergency Service Unit, The Post has learned.
'This one has a crazy mechanical arm,' a police source said. 'They can pick up weapons. Let's say a suspect is barricaded with a knife. You communicate through the robot.
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4 The NYPD's new PackBot 525 can be deployed ahead of cops to inspect suspicious packages and clear dangerous rooms.
Teledyne FLIR
'It can open a door and pick up the knife or a gun.'
The city is shelling out about $390,000 for the super high-tech helper, which cops will control remotely.
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The robot will be ESU's first response in bomb threat situations, letting police move and inspect suspicious packages from a safe distance, the source said. While it can't actually use a weapon, in a barricade it can clear rooms, relay video and audio and 'protects the officers,' the source added.
The bot is equipped with HD cameras, improved lighting, a laser range finder and can lift up to 44 pounds, according to the manufacturer.
It can be used for bomb disposal, surveillance, scouting and detecting or handling hazardous materials and radiation, and stows neatly in a vehicle — even fitting in a standard-sized car's trunk, the company's website claims.
4 ESU officers will control the PackBot remotely, using its HD cameras and improved lighting to scout scenes in real time.
Teledyne FLIR
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'The new robot will allow our ESU officers to gain better command and control at the scene of an incident,' an NYPD spokesperson said. 'The robot can be used to navigate obstructions in a room and scan for persons in need of help.'
The NYPD has been steadily adding mechanical muscle to its ranks over the last few years.
In 2023, it brought back DigiDog — a 70-pound robotic canine that can be sent into dangerous situations — after shelving an earlier version that critics called dystopian.
4 The Wall-E lookalike — a $389,940 bot — can also detect hazardous materials and radiation without putting officers in harm's way.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
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The PackBot is 'almost like DigiDog but a little more advanced,' the NYPD source said, and better suited for handling hostage situations.
'ESU really wants this,' the source added.
The department piloted a 400-pound Autonomous Security Robot in Times Square that same year, but scrapped it after just four months — in part because it needed a cop chaperone and couldn't climb stairs.
4 The PackBot 525's compact design allows it to stow neatly in a police vehicle, even fitting in a standard car trunk.
Teledyne FLIR
And in 2024, it bought 14 'throw bots' that can be tossed into active scenes to beam back live video and audio.
FLIR, an acronym for Forward-Looking Infrared, specializes in thermal imaging cameras and sensors and became part of California-based defense and electronics giant Teledyne Technologies in 2021.
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Robots, too, will be used to fight fire in high-risk situations — as was already done in 2019 when a firefighting robot named Colossus, developed by the firm Shark Robotics, battled flames searing through Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Indeed, much of this technology is already in development or in existence from companies such as Verizon and AT&T and technology firms such as Pivotal, ERIS, Magic Leap, Qwake and FLAIM, which are pioneering personal response aircraft, augmented reality software, heads-up displays and thermal imaging devices, among other smart tools for firefighters. One project in development from the Department of Homeland Security and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is known as AUDREY, or the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction and Synthesis, which will use AI to track fire crews as they move through an environment using head-mounted displays or mobile devices, collecting data to guide them through flames and monitor for danger. 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The system can deliver a continuous flow of more than 150,000 gallons of water per hour up to 50 miles away from its source, according to Chief Executive Mike Echols. It can even desalinate water quickly, which means ocean water could potentially be used to fight a blaze like the Palisades fire in the future. Such a system could have made a 'huge difference' in January, Echols said. 'I'm not going to say anything can prevent an act of nature like that, but just think about having a continuous water supply network to disperse wherever it's needed.' Another forward-looking firm, Frontline Wildfire Defense, has created a sprinkler system that uses fire-tracking technology to detect blazes near a home. Once triggered, the system saturates the house and property with water and firefighting foam, 'creating an environment that is too wet to burn,' according to the company. It's not only private industry that is building L.A.'s firefighting future. Government officials also understand the growing urgency of the situation. Proposed federal legislation known as the 'Fix Our Forests Act,' which is currently working its way through Congress, calls for the development of a suite of a high-tech products among its plans for managing forests and reducing wildfire threats, including AI and augmented reality tools, infrared-equipped low-Earth orbit satellites, and quantum computing applications. The bill has passed the House and is pending in the Senate. Meanwhile, a state assembly bill, AB 270, would direct the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a pilot program to assess the viability of incorporating autonomous firefighting helicopters in the state. The agency in 2023 opened its own Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development, which is dedicated to investigating new tools for emergency response, including ways to enhance firefighters' situational awareness and to use AI to power drones, data collection and post-fire analyses. 'At the end of the day, we either keep pace with technology, or technology advances past us,' said Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler. But while technology continues to advance, some say there must also be an evolution of the ways in which Californians think about fire. For years, the majority of the state's residents and firefighting agencies have operated under an ethos that all fire is bad — ignoring Indigenous burning practices and the fact that fire has been a natural part of California's landscape since long before humans ever arrived. By keeping fire out of the state's wildlands altogether, California has grown thick with branches, brush and understory that are now acting as fuel for the state's ever-larger blazes. 'We have some challenges in front of us recognizing that there is a need for fire in many landscapes,' said Dargan Marquis, the former state fire marshal, who also spent 30 years as a firefighter and chief. In addition to advancing new firefighting technology, 'how do we also, at the same time, hold in our heads and in our strategies and in our goals that fire is beneficial?' Though much of present progress is by necessity focused on extinguishing flames, she hopes that in the years ahead, experts and technology will also find ways to incorporate as much 'good fire' as possible. 'We can see a pathway to moving our technology, our fire service, our social acceptance and our entire wildfire perspective through an understanding — an arc of change — where fires become manageable events and then eventually, in 50 years, we can see them as valuable opportunities,' she said. There are other kinks to work out as well. In San Bernardino, officials had to cancel their scheduled demonstration of Rain's autonomous Black Hawk helicopter due to 80 mph wind that day. Brodie, Rain's chief executive, was disappointed but not deterred. Wind is a huge factor in many fires — including the Palisades and Eaton fires — and sending autonomous aircraft in when it's too dangerous for humans to fly is among his goals. 'The thing that keeps me up at night, and gets me up in the morning, is moving faster in advancing these technologies that we have — that are already here — so that we can start moving faster towards this future,' Brodie said. He noted that the combination of satellite constellations, smart grid data, early detection cameras and pre-positioned autonomous resources 'just make sense, and the economics pencil out.' 'This is the special moment we are in now,' he said. 'There's no reason why we can't do this.'
