Pune: Central Railway deploys robot geared with high-end technology to screen passengers

To intensify passenger screening and surveillance on railway premises, the Central Railway has deployed a robot at the Pune station that will lessen the burden on railway police personnel and other staff. On Friday, Pune's Railway Protection Force launched the robot ‘CAPTAIN ARJUN’ (Always be Responsible and Just Use to be Nice) to screen passengers while they board trains and keep a watch on anti-social elements.  

The inauguration of the robot was done via video conferencing by Railway Board Director General (RPF), Arun Kumar in the presence of Central Railway General Manager Sanjeev Mittal, and several other senior officials. 

Mittal appreciated the innovation by the Railway Protection Force and said, “The Robotic Captain Arjun will protect the passengers and the staff from any possible infection and also its surveillance will provide enhanced security."

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Robot loaded with high tech gear

According to the Central Railway, Captain Arjun is equipped with a motion sensor, one PTZ camera (Pan, Tilt, Zoom Camera) and one Dome Camera. The cameras use Artificial Intelligence algorithms to track suspicious activity and antisocial activity, has an inbuilt siren, motion-activated spotlight H-264 Processor, there is also an in-built internal storage for recording in case there is a network failure.

Captain Arjun does thermal screening and records the temperature in a digital display panel with a response time of 0.5 seconds and if the temperature is higher than the reference range, it sounds an abnormal automatic alarm with a counting capacity of 999.

The robot has adopted a two-way communication mode – voice and video – and also speaks in local language. It is housed with speakers to spread awareness messages on COVID19.

Captain Arjun also has a sensor-based hand sanitizer and mask dispenser and is mobile. The robot has a floor sanitisation facility with good battery backup. It has rugged wheels which supports all kinds of surfaces.

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Augment station security plan

The brainchild behind this innovation, Alok Bohra, DIG/RPF, Central Railway, said, "The high infection rates among multiple segments of people across the world have hampered efforts to tackle COVID-19 pandemic that prompted us to consider robotic screening. Captain Arjun can be deployed for multiple uses and it is an effective element in station access control and will augment the station security plan."

The success of this AI-enabled robot will give enough protective cover to the passengers while undergoing the screening with no manual encounters and at the same time its surveillance feature will prove to be a great deterrent to any unusual occurrences and will ensure security in the railway premises, the Central Railway said.

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