Home Team Humanoid Robots to be Deployed by Mid-2027

$100m will be invested in centre that develops such machines for public safety

- David Sun

Home Team officers will work together with their robot counterparts when the latter are deployed as soon as by mid-2027.

The humanoid robots will perform high-risk tasks such as firefighting, hazardous materials (hazmat) operations, and search and rescue missions.

Initially, the robots will be controlled remotely by human operators, but are expected to be powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and deployed autonomously from 2029.

During autonomous deployment, AI will allow the machines to respond to different scenarios, with humans supervising and intervening only when necessary.

On May 26, four of these robots, which are being developed by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), were showcased at the opening of the AI TechXplore exhibition.

The two-day science and technology exhibition, held at Fusionopolis One, highlights HTX's efforts to leverage AI to enhance Home Team operations.

The exhibition was held alongside the HTX career fair, Careers@HTX.

Three of the robots on display are about 1.7m tall, while the fourth is half a metre shorter.

HTX engineers built an exo-suit for operators to wear to control the smaller robot. Information from the exo-suit is transmitted to the robot, allowing it to replicate the operator's movements in real time.