Beijing has begun testing security robots in public-facing settings, including a deployment of eight units around the National Tennis Center for the 2025 China Open. Separate reporting also describes Beijing E-Town integrating quadruped robot dogs and unmanned vehicles into patrol work. Together, the initiatives show a push to trial mixed-robot fleets in urban security roles, though public performance data has not been released.
Eight Robots Guard the China Open
The 2025 China Open marks the first time the tournament has used security robots, according to the municipal notice. According to a municipal notice, eight security robots are positioned around major entrances and traffic nodes at the National Tennis Center. Their job description reads like a compressed version of what a small human security team would handle: real-time monitoring of crowd flow, one-button help for attendees who need assistance, and directional guidance to keep foot traffic moving smoothly during matches.
The robots are one piece of a wider “one venue, one policy” approach the China Open has adopted to strengthen event services. That framework also includes extending subway last-train times and opening exempt-inspection channels at nearby metro stations so spectators can leave the venue quickly. With the robots described as being positioned at entrances and traffic nodes, the initial setup appears focused on fixed coverage rather than free-roaming patrol. The combination of transit adjustments and robotic monitoring points to a coordinated effort to manage large crowds through infrastructure changes rather than simply adding more human guards.
Robot Dogs and Autonomous Vehicles in Beijing E-Town
Several months before the China Open deployment, Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area, commonly known as E-Town, began integrating robot dogs and unmanned vehicles into its urban patrol operations. A report carried by the National Center for Science and Technology Information details the technical specifications of the quadruped units: each carries an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating, runs for approximately four hours on a single charge, and is fitted with a multi-spectral camera capable of capturing data across multiple wavelengths. A modular payload system lets operators swap sensor packages depending on the mission, whether that is thermal imaging for nighttime patrols or environmental monitoring.
The robot dogs do not operate alone. E-Town’s patrol fleet includes 18 Level 4 autonomous vehicles, meaning the cars can handle most driving tasks without human intervention in defined areas. Pairing legged robots with wheeled vehicles creates a layered system: the autonomous cars cover long stretches of road efficiently, while the dogs can traverse stairs, narrow alleys, and uneven terrain that wheeled platforms cannot reach. This division of labor addresses a practical gap that single-platform security systems have struggled with for years, since most urban environments mix wide roads with tight pedestrian zones and no single robot form factor handles both well.
Why Mixed Fleets Matter More Than Individual Robots
The real significance of Beijing’s approach is not any single robot but the decision to field different types together. A wheeled unit stationed at a stadium entrance serves a different function than a robot dog patrolling an industrial park perimeter or an autonomous vehicle scanning kilometers of highway. By mixing form factors, operators can assign each platform to the environment where it performs best, reducing the need for a single expensive machine that tries to do everything and potentially lowering integration risk by treating each robot type as a specialized tool within a broader system.
That said, the current deployments carry clear limitations. The E-Town report says the robot dogs run for approximately four hours on a single charge, which would require battery swaps or relay teams for continuous overnight patrol. The eight security robots at the China Open cover a finite number of entrances, and there is no public data on how they perform under stress, such as when thousands of fans surge toward exits after a match point. Without published error rates, incident logs, or cost comparisons against human guards, it is difficult to judge whether these systems save money or simply add a technology layer on top of existing staffing, turning them into high-profile demonstrations rather than fully evaluated operational assets.
Privacy and Public Acceptance as Open Questions
Most coverage of robotic security in China focuses on capability. What gets less attention is the friction these systems could create with the public. A robot dog equipped with a multi-spectral camera could collect different kinds of data than a standard CCTV camera bolted to a pole. The modular payload design described through the Zhongguancun science platform suggests the sensor suite can be changed without replacing the platform. That could allow capabilities to evolve over time, raising questions about how clearly the public is informed about what data is being gathered.
At sporting events like the China Open, attendees may accept visible robot sentries as part of heightened security for a ticketed venue, especially when they are framed as offering navigation help and emergency contact functions. The calculus shifts when similar machines patrol everyday spaces such as subway stations or residential neighborhoods, where residents may have little choice but to interact with them. The municipal notice’s mention of exempt-inspection channels at metro stops near the tennis center points to efforts to balance security procedures with spectator convenience. Whether that same sensitivity extends to permanent robotic patrols in transit hubs is an unanswered question, as no public consultation process or detailed regulatory framework for robotic surveillance in Chinese metro systems has been disclosed in the available reporting.
What Beijing’s Experiment Signals for Other Cities
Beijing is among the places experimenting with security robots, and the reporting highlights a mix of deployments across different settings. Deploying wheeled sentry units at a major international tennis tournament while simultaneously running quadruped and autonomous vehicle patrols in an economic zone creates a real-world testing ground that few other municipalities have attempted at this breadth. The 18 L4 autonomous vehicles in E-Town alone represent a fleet size that many pilot programs in other countries have not matched for security-specific applications, and the decision to place robots in front of paying spectators at a flagship sporting event suggests confidence that the systems can at least handle routine crowd-management tasks.
Some coverage outside China frames robotic security primarily as a surveillance story. That framing misses a more immediate operational question: do mixed-robot fleets actually reduce response times, cut staffing costs, or improve incident detection compared with conventional methods? Beijing’s programs have not yet published performance benchmarks that would answer those questions, nor have they released systematic evaluations of how often robots require human intervention during patrols. Until that data surfaces, the deployments function more as large-scale demonstrations of what integrated robot fleets can look like in practice, rather than conclusive evidence that such systems outperform well-trained human teams. For other cities watching from afar, Beijing’s experiment offers a preview of both the possibilities and the unresolved trade-offs that come with putting robots on the security front line.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
