Amazon-owned home security provider Ring announced Tuesday that it is establishing a dedicated robotics division, introducing an autonomous indoor security drone for residences and a wheeled patrol robot for commercial spaces.
The company said its Ring Drone Cam will fly room-to-room to check for disturbances when triggered by sensors or sent on automated patrols. Meanwhile, the Ring Rover Cam retools Amazon’s Astro robotics hardware into a dedicated commercial security guard capable of rolling across single-story facilities up to 5,000 square feet, The Verge reported.
Flying patrols inside the home
Ring initially previewed a flying home camera concept called the Always Home Cam in 2020 before shelving its rollout to refine sensors, navigation and data processing, CNBC reported. The newly unveiled drone rests in a charging dock until activated manually, scheduled for routine checks or dispatched automatically when a connected Ring alarm trips.
Reports differed on the drone’s cost: NBC News reported a price tag of $250, while TechCrunch stated the device will retail for $270. Ring customer service representatives told NBC News that using the drone or the rover will also require a subscription fee of $5 per month or $60 annually.
The flying device records in 2K resolution, according to TechCrunch, and features a 148-degree peripheral field of view with full 360-degree rotation and onboard LED illumination for dark rooms, NBC News reported. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff told CNBC that the device will not operate outdoors due to Federal Aviation Administration rules requiring drones to remain within an operator’s visual line of sight.
“We have told our customers not to do that because it’s illegal,” Siminoff told CNBC. “We’ve also put guardrails in there to make it so it doesn’t fly outside.”
A second chance for Amazon’s rolling robot
For commercial facilities, Ring debuted the $1,000 Rover Cam, which The Verge reported is listed for preorder at $999.99. The machine repurposes the two-wheeled base from Amazon’s Astro, a consumer robot first shown in 2021 that later struggled as a business security device before being discontinued.
Unlike the consumer Astro, the Rover Cam omits Amazon’s Alexa assistant and animated digital eyes, The Verge reported. Its display instead communicates basic status alerts, such as warning bystanders that recording is in progress. Key hardware details include:
- A telescoping periscope camera recording continuous 4K video over desks and store fixtures.
- A deterrence tower equipped with a siren, flashing red lights and a blue light projector that casts a beam onto ceilings to help owners spot the robot.
- Two-way audio allowing property managers to speak remotely through the unit.
- Roughly 30 minutes of battery endurance per charge, limited to navigating a single level.
Artificial intelligence and privacy
Ring said both robots run on an autonomous software foundation dubbed AI Pilot. According to TechCrunch, the system combines specialized vision models, physical sensors and cloud computation to map interior floor plans as the machines explore spaces on their own.
The announcements arrive amid longstanding scrutiny from digital privacy advocates over how Ring handles customer video and interfaces with law enforcement agencies. Ring stated that both machines treat privacy as a default setting, activating visible lights during recording. TechCrunch reported that recorded footage is secured using what the company calls Throw Away the Key Encryption, or TAKE, though it remains unclear whether either unit will support local offline storage rather than cloud uploads.
The Ring Rover Cam is scheduled to begin shipping to customers on Dec. 16, CNBC reported. The Ring Drone Cam is scheduled to ship on Jan. 27, though Ring noted the flying device still awaits regulatory clearance from the Federal Communications Commission.
