Ring, known for its doorbell cameras, launches a home security drone

Amazon-owned Ring, the home security company known for its doorbell cameras, is launching a robotics division and two patrol machines. The company announced Ring Robotics on Tuesday with a home security drone owners can deploy when they are out and a rolling enterprise robot for businesses, according to TechCrunch's report. Owners can deploy the drone to patrol a domicile while they are away, and businesses get a robot designed to patrol and protect a workplace.

This piece follows both products from the division announcement through room-to-room patrols, store routes, and the shared AI Pilot software that is supposed to map a building by exploring it. It is for homeowners who already use Ring alarms, and for operators who want an after-hours sweep they can watch on a phone. The closing section covers Amazon's 2021 Astro robot, TAKE encryption, cloud recording, and the December 16 and January 27 dates with the $1,000 and $270 prices.

01Ring Robotics division debut

Ring is opening a robotics division of its own, under the name Ring Robotics, and pointing it at automated security for the home and the office. The company announced that division on Tuesday and debuted two devices with it. The two machines are expected to stir more than a little controversy.

The first device, Ring Drone Cam, is a home security drone that users will be able to deploy to patrol their domiciles when they are out. The second, Ring Rover Cam, is a roving enterprise security robot designed for businesses. Ring introduced those two product names with the division on Tuesday.

02Flying indoor security camera

Ring Drone Cam is the home security drone, built to fly from room to room, inspect what is happening in a user's house, and alert that user if there is trouble. Ring calls the device a "flying indoor security camera," and it has been built to integrate with Ring's other home security devices. That integration is what lets an alarm already in the house send the drone to investigate.

If a Ring alarm goes off in a particular part of the home, such as the backdoor, the drone is supposed to fly to that location and investigate. When it is not in use, the drone stays inactive in a docking bay. The drone shoots video in 2K, and LED lights let it keep watch at night and record video in low light.

The drone can be controlled via Amazon's Alexa Home Map, and it can be scheduled to patrol the house at specific times. Someone who will be out for the night, or away on vacation, can have the drone keep them apprised of what is happening in the house while they are gone.

03Rover routes and periscope audio

Ring Rover Cam is the roving business robot, and like the drone it can be set to patrol specific routes at specific times within the user's business. The robot streams video in continuous 4K, and that video is viewable via Ring's mobile app. A trigger can be set to record automatically if the Rover detects a human.

The Rover also comes with a periscope camera, which can be adjusted to see over specific obstacles. Two-way audio is included, so a remote user who needs to communicate with a person at the store can speak to them through the robot. That person on the floor might be an employee or a burglar.

04AI Pilot maps each building

Ring says both robots are powered by the same proprietary AI system, known as AI Pilot. The company says this system uses "specialized vision models, sensors, and cloud processing to see, think, and navigate autonomously." With that software, both devices are designed to develop a detailed schematic of a house or office purely by exploring the space for themselves.

"Together, it's like having a guard on patrol who never clocks out," the company claims of its new devices. Of the business robot, Ring says, "Ring Rover can do a sweep of the floor after close and investigate when sensor trips at 2 a.m. — streaming it all to your phone, wherever you are." The phone stream is how Ring says an owner sees that after-close sweep and that 2 a.m. sensor trip from anywhere.

05Astro, encryption, and prices

Automated security is one space the tech industry has never quite cracked, and in 2021 Amazon launched Astro, a home security robot that resembles Ring's new robot. Ring says it was inspired to create the bot because of "feedback from Amazon Astro customers," after Astro was first announced as a nebulous domestic helper and later repurposed as an enterprise security product. The device never took off, and seven months into its run as a small-business security guard, Amazon put Astro out to pasture.

Privacy concerns have long dogged Ring, with critics frequently alleging that the company's cameras have created unofficial surveillance networks that police departments can, and routinely do, tap into. Similar complaints are expected to be lodged about the drone and the Rover, given the invasive potential of both. Ring claims both devices have been built with "privacy and security" baked into them, and that recorded video is protected by TAKE (Throw Away the Key Encryption), which Ring calls its "strongest default encryption yet."

It is unclear whether there will be an option for local video storage, and Ring cameras generally record their videos to the cloud. The Rover is being made available starting on December 16, and it will retail at $1,000. The drone will not launch until next year, on January 27, and will be made available for $270.