Radical Departure on the Edge

• By Ralph C. Jensen
• Apr 01, 2018

After several business trips to California, I did bump in to something a little radical and most certainly worth a story. The story begins with Steve Reinharz, a man who is living on the leading edge of technology. It is the people, or things that he associates with that brings pause.

Reinharz is a bit of a radical himself; he founded and owns Robotic Assistance Devices. His mission is to provide a fleet of four-wheel robots that will add value to the human guarding vertical. These guys, or things, are non-confrontational all the while patrolling a perimeter for possible security breaches.

This is one of those things you have to see to believe.

Well, I’ve seen it, and luckily for attendees, the robots are on display at ISC West this month in Las Vegas.

Reinharz and RAD are leveraging not only knowledge but a keen interest in the technology to bring about an adoption of artificial intelligence that will increase business efficiency, and provide cost savings to an end user who is willing to adopt a robot. The robot is intended to be a force multiplier.

The robots mimic human guards, can send and receive two-way message, and, best of all, you can rent one. A robot is tethered to the customer and it stays in contact with the security operations center.

This company graces the pages of our cover story for Dealer Stategies in this issue. This isn’t just a wish list sort of security solution, but is already on the job as RAD has deployed several robots to security guarding companies, and has entered into an agreement with Romeo Power for use of the lithium-ion battery packs. Romeo Power is a believer as they have already deployed two robots on premises at its Vernon, Calif. headquarters.

This is one of those solutions where the future is now, and already on the job. I think you’ll enjoy this cover story to learn more about robot solutions, but also to get to know Steve Reinharz, who is truly a visionary on the edge of technology.

This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of Security Today.