ABOVE: Knightscope’s All-New 4th Generation K5 Security Robot Deployed at Samsung
Knightscope is proud that Samsung is among the many clients using security robots for over two years now. And what’s even more exciting is that we consider each of these long-term relationships to be “partnerships” in the purest sense of the term. Each party adds value beyond the exact words of a contract to benefit a common purpose – in our case, the safety of the public.
These relationships are guided by a shared vision and purpose that builds trust and recognizes the value and contribution of all members – and where technology can be a driving force. Each understands and accepts the importance of the agreed-upon goals, which leads to improved coordination of policies, programs, and service delivery. Shared and transparent decision-making processes backed by effective communication at all levels are also essential as we work towards our goal to improving the safety at the places you work and visit.
Today, however, there are too many “yes-people” in business. It feels like people fear conflict and change, which is funny because this business is built adapting and responding to these two challenging issues. Conflict and change breed innovation – and we need constant innovation in security. People are also afraid to make mistakes, since sometimes our climate is one that doesn’t tolerate mistakes very easily. Yet mistakes are what develop ideas! You have to be encouraged to make mistakes and learn from them, because no one ever gets it right on the first try.
An open mindset and the desire to invest in our clients’ successes creates opportunities to shape our capabilities and learn together. This may involve monitoring and evaluation aimed at improving performance that may be difficult to tackle all at once. We were excited when Samsung approached us with the challenge of increasing our security robot coverage area. But we didn’t just say “sure, let’s go!” without first probing the issues deep to understand Samsung’s needs. We learned a big concern was an inability for the K5 to transverse the many speed bumps on the Samsung campus.
With the problem clearly defined, the location already secured and the newest version of security robot nearing completion, Samsung became the ideal candidate to launch our fourth generation K5. We delivered the very first K5 v4.0 named ‘VizBot’ to Samsung’s Silicon Valley campus on May 1, 2019. With its all new, fully suspended drivetrain, the K5v4 is uniquely suited to manage the more aggressive terrain outside Samsung’s Silicon Valley workplace. Since deploying, we have been able to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete a robot guard tour in areas inhibited by speed bumps, while continuing to sweep both of their multi-story parking garages for abandoned vehicles and provide their command center with the additional eyes and ears to provide more security intelligence and improve overall security.
Knightscope releases new software code every two weeks and new hardware several times a year. One of the major benefits our clients enjoy is unlimited software and firmware upgrades – and at times, when available or appropriate, hardware upgrades. The more we learn, the more we experience (and frankly, the more mistakes we make), the better the technology gets over time. And we are grateful that Samsung has taken a positive, long-term outlook in the development of these new technologies.
The success we realize here will translate into improvements for the entire fleet of Knightscope security robots and to our incredible clients – both existing and future ones. With partnerships like these, we will demonstrate both accountability for our actions and ownership for delivering on the objectives and targets for which we are responsible. We humbly believe this to be a shining example of why we remain the leader in our industry, and how we will continue to maintain that edge into the future.
