Associated Incidents
The rise of the robots has been (slightly) dampened.
An autonomous 300-pound crime-fighting android tasked with patrolling an office building in Washington, D.C., met an untimely end on Monday — after it tumbled into a water fountain.
Twitter user Bilal Farooqui posted online a snap of the hapless machine’s demise:
Our D.C. office building got a security robot. It drowned itself.
We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots. pic.twitter.com/rGLTAWZMjn — Bilal Farooqui (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017
The K5 machine, which Silicon Valley start-up Knightscope developed, was reportedly patrolling the Washington Harbour complex in Georgetown when it fell down steps and landed on its side in the water.
In a statement to The Washington Post, its creators noted that no one was injured in the “isolated event” and pledged to replace the ’droid within the next week. The company also posted this lighthearted tweet:
Security robot, yes. Submarine robot, no. Got it. - K5 — Knightscope (@iKnightscope) July 17, 2017
It was up to office workers to fish the heavy machine from the water:
It's a fun day here at @gmmb. The super high-tech security robot at our office complex has had a mishap. pic.twitter.com/nhRshrJA9w — Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) July 17, 2017
HuffPost has reached for comment on what happened to the robot after the unfortunate incident.
But as Farooqui’s initial tweet went viral, other social media users chimed in ― with many poking fun at the robot’s sadly premature end to guard duty:
It's ok security robot. It's a stressful job, we've all been there. pic.twitter.com/LQbnntbCRm — ✨💖Sparkle Ops💖✨ (@SparkleOps) July 17, 2017
Poor Marvin, sometimes life as a security robot is just too tough. https://t.co/0avBQv98l6 — Mathias Payer (@gannimo) July 17, 2017
"What is my purpose?" "You're a security robot!" "Oh my god" https://t.co/H03o4Ltysk — John Best 🌹 (@Wintermute21) July 17, 2017
Arya Stark: When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for your security robot. pic.twitter.com/ZEz58gT4V7 — Ryan Mac (@RMac18) July 17, 2017