Security Robot Runs Over 16-Month-Old At Stanford Shopping Center

Palo Alto, CA — A 300-pound security robot ran over a toddler at a Palo Alto shopping center on Thursday, according to several sources.

According to ABC7, 16-month-old Harwin Cheng collided with the robot while he was with his parents at the Stanford Shopping Center.

"The robot hit my son's head, and he fell down facing down on the floor, and the robot did not stop, and it kept moving forward," Tiffany Teng told the station.

Harwin's parents say the robot ran over the boy's right foot, causing it to swell, but the child did not suffer any broken bones.

Teng told ABC7 that the robot would have run over her son’s other foot had her husband not pulled the boy away.

According to the Huffington Post, the security robots are made by a company called Knightscope, located in Mountain View.

The Post says the K5 version of the robot "uses lasers, thermal imaging sensors, 360 video, air quality sensors, a microphone and various other technologies to deter and detect criminal activities. In the event of suspicious activity, the robot alerts local human authorities."

In May, the Bay Area News Group released a video of the new robots at the shopping center.

-Embeds via ABC7, Bay Area News Group; image via Sylvain Leprovost/Flickr