Ring launches a home security drone and an enterprise robot

Amazon-owned Ring is entering robotics with two security devices: the Ring Drone Cam for homes and Ring Rover Cam for businesses. The company announced its Ring Robotics division and the products on Tuesday.

Ring describes the Drone Cam as a “flying indoor security camera.” It is designed to fly between rooms, inspect a home and alert the user if it detects trouble. The drone can work with Ring alarms, remain in its docking bay when inactive, and be scheduled to patrol at set times. It records video in 2K and has LED lights for low-light recording. Users can control it through Amazon’s Alexa Home Map.

The Rover Cam is a mobile security robot for businesses. It can patrol scheduled routes, stream continuous 4K video to Ring’s mobile app and be set to record automatically when it detects a person. It also has an adjustable periscope camera and two-way audio.

Ring says both devices use its AI Pilot system, which combines vision models, sensors and cloud processing for autonomous navigation. The company says their videos are protected by TAKE (Throw Away the Key Encryption), which it calls its strongest default encryption yet. Whether local video storage will be available is unclear.

Ring Rover Cam goes on sale December 16 for $1,000. The Drone Cam is scheduled to launch January 27 next year for $270. Ring’s announcement follows Amazon’s 2021 launch of Astro, a home robot that was later repositioned for business security but did not take off, according to TechCrunch.