The Changi Airport Police Division has unveiled its newest rideable indoor robot that patrols Terminal 4 that has been on trial at the Departure Hall since July 2025. The robots named GIBSON augments police operations by enhancing patrol presence and improving officers’ mobility within Changi Airport.
Named after inventor Arthur Hugo Cecil Gibson, who made the first motorised scooter in the early 1900s, it is the second type of police robot to be used at the airport. The Airport Police Division has been using robots since April 2023 to patrol Terminal 4.
GIBSON was announced previously by the Singapore Police Force which said that it will help to curb theft at the airport.
There has been an alarming rise of theft at retail outlets by passengers. Some of them were sentenced to jail or fined.
There have been new cases since then.
On 23 July, a 38-year-old man from India was arrested for his suspected involvement in multiple cases of theft at Changi Airport. The man allegedly took various items including perfumes, cosmetics and bags worth a total of S$5,136 (about US$4,000) from 14 shops without paying.
A 35-year-old man and 30-year-old woman, both American nationals, have been arrested for their suspected involvement in multiple cases of theft in Changi Airport’s transit area on June 23.
GIBSON has dual function of being autonomous or rideable platform
What sets GIBSON apart is its dual-mode operation – it can function autonomously or be deployed as a “ride-hailing” service for airport police officers.
In autonomous mode, GIBSON can conduct patrols independently, enhancing police presence across the terminal.
Officers can also summon the devices to their locations via a mobile app, before riding on them to get to their intended destinations within the airport quickly. This capability eliminates the need to locate a robot manually or return it to a parking station. This allows officers to focus on incident response, improving response time and operational readiness within the airport.
GIBSON’s other innovative technologies
Equipped with depth-sensing technologies, it can navigate indoor environments safely. Its smart sensing capabilities enable it to monitor its surroundings, detect obstacles and avoid collisions.
Each robot is equipped with a camera with a 360-degree field of view. The camera is mounted on an extendable mast that can be raised up to 2.3m, allowing officers in the airport police operations room to have a better view of what is happening on the ground.
Members of the public can also press a button on the front of the robot to directly contact airport police and immediately get a response from an officer in the operations room.
The robots can broadcast audio messages via in-built speakers and display messages – such as “Police Operation In Progress” – on an LCD panel.
With the help of blinkers, sirens and speakers, the robots are also able to enforce a cordon or warn bystanders during an incident prior to officers arriving. An example of this, is if a robot comes across a suspicious bag left unattended in the terminal.
Live-streamed video footage will be recorded and kept in the operations room for 30 days.
You can watch GIBSON in action in videos in the Singapore Police Force’s website here.
Photo credit – Singapore Police Force: Ahmad Fawwaz
