As of: March 16, 2024, 3:50 p.m
By: Anna Liebelt
Comments
Press
Split
In Munich alone, twelve DB S-Bahn trains have to go to the workshop every week to remove graffiti.
A four-legged robot is now supposed to help in the expensive fight against vandalism.
Munich – Dogs actually have no place on the tracks of the Munich S-Bahn.
However, there will be an exception in the future.
At the train station in Deisenhofen (Munich district), Deutsche Bahn presented its latest pilot project on Friday, March 15th: the dog-like walking robot “Spot”.
The red and white robot will soon be patrolling sidings, watching over S-Bahn trains and protecting them from greasers.
Graffiti and graffiti: Twelve trains affected every week in Munich alone
“The trains are our calling card,” explains S-Bahn boss Heiko Büttner.
“We don’t want the S-Bahn trains to be sprayed all over.” The number of graffiti on trains has increased significantly in recent years.
In Munich alone, Deutsche Bahn sends twelve trains to the workshop every week to remove graffiti.
Over the course of a year, the specialists at the S-Bahn factory in Steinhausen clean over 13,000 square meters of graffiti - an area the size of three meadow tents.
It is intended to keep graffiti sprayers and rioters away from the trains in the future: the robot dog “Spot” is the latest pilot project from Deutsche Bahn.
© Brouczek
Cleaning costs up to one million euros
That costs money.
The Munich S-Bahn spends around one million euros a year on cleaning work.
“But it’s not just a business problem,” says Büttner.
“If the trains are in the workshop, they are not available for passenger transport during this time.” This often leads to train delays or even cancellations.
New robo-dog aims to prevent vandalism
The waist-high robot dog “Spot” is now supposed to prevent this.
He is supposed to patrol sidings day and night on an area of 100 square meters.
The red and white robot dances around in gravel beds like a spider, climbs over tracks and examines its surroundings.
If he detects a sprayer with his three cameras attached to the front, back and right of his body, he starts a live broadcast and sends an alarm to the responsible DB employees.
“They then call the federal police,” Büttner explains the procedure.
My news
Young woman goes into ice-cold Isar and disappears into darkness: “Mission” will only be read clearly later
After the closure of the popular Italian restaurant: Disgust alarm in Munich's old town
“Late summer highlight” in the Olympic Park: Superbloom is expanding its line-up to include more top stars
Dramatic emergency call in Munich: Dog swallows ball and suffocates
It gets even worse: Sport-Scheck is closing more branches - including in Unterhachinglesen
Rejected by the university: Did a Munich student cheat on his application?
read
(Our Munich newsletter regularly informs you about all important stories from the Isar metropolis. Register here.)
Robot dog weighs 40 kilograms and is quite defensive
Robot dog Spot can move freely within his territory.
“It is autonomous and charges itself at a charging station,” says project manager Christoph Exner.
If it falls over, it gets back up on its own, detects obstacles and avoids collisions.
“Spot also starts kicking wildly when you pick him up,” Exner warns potential thieves.
It's also better not to kick the robot dog.
“He weighs 40 kilos, which can hurt a lot.”
The railway does not want to reveal where Spot goes on his first foray.
“That remains a trade secret,” says S-Bahn boss Büttner and grins.
After all, Spot is supposed to catch Sprayer in the act and give them a real scare.
You can find more news in our tz app, now in an improved design with more personalization functions.
Directly available for download, more information can be found here.
Are you an enthusiastic user of WhatsApp?
There too, tz.de/muenchen will now keep you up to date via a new Whatsapp channel.
Click here to go directly to the channel.