UGV vs. Human Patrol: Cost and Safety Comparison for Industrial Sites
Security and site-management teams ask us the same question in the same words: can a ground robot honestly do the patrol route, and what does it cost against the guard it supplements? This article answers both halves with published numbers — our UGV catalogue specifications on one side, patrol-shift arithmetic on the other.
What the machines actually do
Three ground platforms cover most industrial-site roles:
| D50 | D100 | D200 | X1 quadruped | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXW price | $5,970 | $13,134 | $38,507 | On request |
| Max payload | — | 80 kg | 200 kg rated | 25 kg continuous (120 kg standing) |
| Endurance | — | 180 min | 150 min | 5 h no-load / 3 h at 20 kg |
| Speed | — | 10 km/h | 0–9 km/h | — |
| Terrain | — | 35° grade, 300 mm obstacle, 400 mm trench | ≥30° grade, 400 mm trench, 20° side slope | 50 cm obstacle climb |
| Protection | — | IP65 | — | IP67, −20 to +55 °C |
| Weight | — | 130 kg | 150 kg empty | 35–40 kg |
The D100 is the route-crawler: 180 minutes of operation and roughly 25 km of unloaded cruising range — a night tour loop with margin. The D200 is the hauler: 200 kg rated load, a 500 × 250 × 220 mm battery bay and GPS/GLONASS/BDS positioning, built for carrying gear to remote work points as much as patrolling them. The X1 quadruped goes where tracked wheels die — 50 cm obstacles, stairs-adjacent terrain, 12 degrees of freedom with dual high-precision LiDAR units.
The shift economics
A guard post is not a salary; it is a coverage function. One 12-hour post, seven days a week, is roughly 2.2 full-time equivalents once relief, leave and turnover are counted. Multiply by loaded wage rates in your market — for a mid-cost market at $2,500/month loaded, that is ~$66,000 a year for one continuously-staffed post; higher-wage markets double or triple it.
A D100 at $13,134 EXW covering the same tour costs: the machine, one operator supervising multiple vehicles from a control station (a role that already exists on most sites), electricity, and periodic maintenance. Even with generous spares budgeting, the first-year equipment cost sits below a quarter of the loaded post it supplements. The honest caveats:
- It supplements, it does not eliminate. Guards judge and respond; robots observe and record. The realistic saving is redeployed hours, not deleted headcount.
- Route design is the project. 35° gradients and 400 mm trenches are within the D100's published limits; doors, gates and stairs are not. Budget for the survey.
- Sensors ride separately. The UGV is a chassis; the thermal/optimal pod and the link that streams it home are line items — see the gimbal selection guide and the UGV video-link article.
The safety column nobody prices
Cost comparisons stop at the balance sheet; risk does not. Three categories belong in the UGV column:
- Hazardous-area entry. Confined spaces, chemical release zones, unstable ground after an incident — a $13,134 tracked vehicle goes in first, and the operator follows only when the sensors clear the call. IP65 (D100) and IP67 (X1) are the difference between "rated for the weather" and "rated for the washdown."
- Night and weather exposure. The D100 runs 180-minute tours in the rain and dark the guard tour skips when conditions get bad — coverage stops being conditional on weather precisely when risk is highest.
- Evidence quality. A human tour logs "checked 02:40, nothing unusual." A UGV with a recording payload logs 40 minutes of geotagged video per lap. For insurance, incident review and deterrence audits, the documented tour is worth more than the tour.
Sizing the fleet
- Perimeter patrol, flat to moderate terrain: D100 class, one spare battery cycle per two tours.
- Heavy logistics + patrol dual-use (solar farms, quarries): D200 — the 200 kg payload carries panel-cleaning gear or tooling to work crews on the same trip the sensors run.
- Stairs, rubble, irregular industrial interiors: X1 quadruped; its 50 cm obstacle climb and 622 mm height get into places tracks cannot.
- Sites needing beyond-line-of-sight routes: plan the link first — the AEROLINK series runs 30 to 300 km ground-to-air with mesh options for moving ground ends, because a patrol robot that loses video behind a tank farm is a remote-controlled paperweight.
Every UGV page in the catalogue lists full published specifications and MOQ (1 SET); quotations are written and valid 14 days, EXW Hong Kong. If you send the route description — surface, gradients, distance, shift pattern — the proposal covers the chassis, the payload and the link as one system, which is the only honest way to price any of them.
Frequently asked questions
Does a UGV replace security guards?
It replaces the walking, not the judging. A UGV covers the route, carries the sensors and documents every metre; a human (on site or at a control station) interprets anomalies and decides response. Most sites redeploy guards from routine tours to response and access control rather than eliminating posts.
Can a tracked UGV handle the same terrain as a patrol on foot?
On the terrain we publish, largely yes: the D100 handles 35° gradients, 300 mm obstacles and 400 mm trench crossings at 10 km/h with IP65 protection, and the X1 quadruped climbs 50 cm obstacles. Stairs, ladders and unlocked doors remain human work — route design must exclude them.
What is the payback period?
It depends on shift count. A D100 at $13,134 compares against recurring guard wages for the tour it covers. Sites running two or more nightly tours in harsh weather typically see the equipment cost below one year of that shift coverage; single-daylight-post sites rarely justify it. Model your own wage rates before trusting anyone's brochure.
Working on a requirement like this one? Send us the mission — payload, endurance and the terrain — and we will say which platform fits and which does not.
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