Robot Escapes From Russian Lab for a Second Time

Posted on June 22, 2016

A runaway robot ended up in the middle of traffic on a busy Russian street after escaping from its lab. The robot is called the Promobot IR77. This is the second time it has escaped. It has been programmed to remember and learn.

The Mirror reports that developers have reprogrammed the robot twice but it continues to try and escape. The other similar robots have not tried to get away. The robot's escape attempt ended after 45 minutes when its battery died. The robot is designed in obstacle avoidance so this could explain how it eventually found its way out of the research center. The first time it happened someone had left a gate open.

The researchers are threatening to dismantle the escaping robot. Oleg Kivokurtsev, co-founder of the Promobot developers, tells the Mirror, "We are currently working on third-generation robots which we plan to launch in autumn. This is why we have given all the robots artificial intelligence (AI). We have changed the AI system twice, so now I think we might have to dismantle it."

Here is a video of Promobot stuck on the highway after its batteries died. Take a look:



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