Almost half a century ago, the first of the Star Wars movies enthralled moviegoers around the world with robots defeating the bad guys. Would that be possible today?
Could security robots with AI and powerful sensors that can identify motion from more than 100 meters away, faces from 20 meters away, and license plates from 75 to 100 meters away have detected the Hamas terrorist murderers before they crossed the border on October 7 and alerted the IDF and security forces in time?
With a 60-kilometer border between Israel and Gaza, 150 robots – surveying 100 meters in each direction – would be needed to cover the entire space. But there is a problem: Hamas has anti-tank missiles that could knock out even such powerful machines.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of sensitive locations inside the country that need better protection, including military bases that have been broken into and had weapons stolen.
Given the fact that it’s still dangerous for border-area farmers to plant and harvest their produce and foreign workers are reluctant to come here, such protective robots would be a boon.
Israel: Slow to adapt
Israel has nevertheless been very slow to adopt the use of robots of all kinds. They can be used to make agriculture more efficient; help geriatric patients in institutions that have a scarcity of suitable caregivers (mostly imported from the Far East); bring pills and meals to patients and remove the dishes when they finish; cook food, work in factories, teach in schools, and take orders and serve food in restaurants, as well as improving hotel services.
Robots could be used to meticulously sanitize every inch of surgical theaters and wards with ultraviolet light and disinfectant sprays instead of inadequate staffers who are unable to clean unreachable surfaces. Robots can even clean and sanitize toilets autonomously.
According to Health Ministry statistics, in an average year, more than 4,000 patients die in Israel from nosocomial infections acquired in the hospitals.
While Israeli hospitals use da Vinci robots to help surgeons work more precisely, none have cleaning, disinfecting, and autonomous delivery robots. The Health Ministry and the hospitals have, unfortunately, not approached RobotLAB to see what they can do.
The Israel-Hamas War has resulted in many soldiers and civilians with lost limbs. Small robots could help them cope with daily needs at home.
Surprisingly, no one in the Defense or Health Ministries has contacted Elad Inbar, whose RobotLAB company in Southlake, Texas supplies and services many thousands of institutions, public services and companies around the world with a wide variety of robots.
With the exception of Madatech, the Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space, no one in Israel has ever approached RobotLAB: not our defense forces, hospitals, or other institutions about his products.
Securing the future with security robots
Security robots are revolutionizing the way we approach safety and surveillance, offering advanced solutions for protecting people and property.
Equipped with cutting-edge sensors and AI technology, these robots provide real-time monitoring and threat detection, enhancing security measures across various settings. They patrol designated areas autonomously, detect unusual activities, and provide instant alerts to security personnel, significantly improving response times and overall safety,” Inbar told The Jerusalem Post from Southlake, Texas.
His company, the largest of its kind in the world, has over 100 well-trained local staffers who assess needs and receive orders from large companies, hospitals, hotels, assisted-living institutions for the elderly, restaurants, and more. If the robots break down, they are immediately repaired or replaced.
“Deploying robots involves providing end-to-end support from consultation and design to deployment and ongoing maintenance. At RobotLAB, we’re not just a robotics provider; we’re a partner in navigating the future of automation, helping businesses overcome challenges, boost productivity, and stay competitive in a rapidly changing world,” he said.
My introduction to Inbar occurred a few months ago when I was sent his new book, Our Robotics Future. Nothing in it mentioned his background, but from his name, I was certain that he was Israeli and jumped at the chance of investigating further. His 251-page book, Our Robotics Future, covers complicated subjects but is amazingly easy to digest, I read it twice. There were 16 pages devoted to security robots alone.
Inbar has led his company to nearly $100 million in sales, overseen tens of thousands of successful robotics deployments, and has established unique partnerships with manufacturers, such as LG Electronics and SoftBank Robotics, as well as major hospitality chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Disney, and Universal Studios.
But Inbar has no offices or company representatives in Israel, even though he was born in Rishon Lezion and his parents, siblings, relatives, and friends continue to live in Israel. His wife Eva and their two children aged 10 and seven live with him in Texas. He last visited Israel three years ago but has watched with much concern what Israel has suffered and endured since October 7.
In his book, Inbar writes that many of his tens of thousands of major industrial and retail customers and police forces are using security robots to protect their property, identify threats (including faces) from afar, and immediately alert security personnel.
His company has offices in 31 US cities, as well as in Bangkok (Thailand), Bogota (Colombia) and other locations, providing real-time data feeds to command centers that respond to security threats. “Their ability to patrol large spaces continuously, regardless of the weather or time of day, makes them particularly valuable where human surveillance would be impractical or too costly,” he writes in Our Robotics Future.
Entreating him in the long phone interview to get involved in Israel, this reporter said that graduates of the Haifa’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology – among the 10 most outstanding technological institutions of higher learning in the world – and other universities could serve as staff for an office if he would establish in Israel.
“You got me thinking,” he said, at the end of the conversation. “I follow the news. I want to work with Israel. I will come to Israel and look into the possibilities as soon as I can. I will make an effort to train an Israeli team.”
Inbar writes in his book that security robots can help monitor public spaces and large gatherings and be deployed in areas where it is impractical or too dangerous to use human officers.
For example, robots can use their sensors to scan parks, shopping malls, college campuses, amusement parks, warehouses, police departments, airports, and parking lots for suspicious activities...
“[They] can act as the first line of defense to provide information and situational awareness before requiring human intervention,” he said.
Inbar noted that other devices that are also called “security robots” are just reactive as when a property is broken into. “Ours are proactive, identifying faces and possible threats from afar. They can be as big as a car and not be put out of service with bullets.”
After failing to complete a college degree in Israel, Inbar ran an Internet portal for Walla before leaving Israel in 2003 for Taiwan (the world capital of computer-chip manufacturing) where he learned some Chinese and studied robotics, came back to Israeli for a year and then emigrated to Texas. His wife, Anna, works in research and development at his company.
Lifelong interest in robots
“I have been interested in robots since I was a child – programming and building them. It was my hobby for many years. After being used mostly as toys and educational tools, robots were upgraded for more serious uses, with motors, sensors, in remote-controlled cars, and devices with robotic arms.
“It was a wake-up call for me,” he recalled, noting that he had spent the last 17 years designing, selling, and servicing robots.
“We don’t really have competition as we are the largest company of its kind. I used to know the customers by name, but with so many today, I don’t anymore.”
Other chapters deal with robots in delivery, cleaning, cooking, education, factories, customer service, and agriculture. What they can do is mind-boggling. Yet, Inbar insisted, they won’t put employees out of business.
“After the COVID-19 pandemic ended, people who were unemployed as waiters, cleaning workers, cooks, delivery boys, and the like didn’t want to return. Many young people updated their skills or started selling over the Internet, so it’s very difficult to find people for these boring, repetitive, low-paying, and even dangerous jobs,” he explained. The pandemic had the same effect on employment in Israel as it did in the US.
“For better or for worse, our current services sector labor shortage seems here to stay. Robots are not here to take away jobs. They are here to make jobs more meaningful and revolutionize the way we work, helping business owners operate more profitably,” Inbar explained.
“There is a new way to alleviate this [workforce] shortage in the form of a new class of tireless workers that emerged during the pandemic: service robots. When installed in institutions, hotels, restaurants, and companies, they make it easier for staffers to give personal attention to customers and clients,” he concluded.