Singapore Opens Humanoid Robotics Centre, Targets Police and Prison Robots by 2028

Singapore has opened the Home Team Humanoid Robotics Centre (H2RC) in its one-north technology district, a facility dedicated specifically to developing and training humanoid robots for public-safety work. Around S$100 million (about US$78 million) has been committed to the 29,000-square-foot site, run by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX).

Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong set an explicit target: 'We aim to have the first humanoid robot working alongside Home Team officers in a real operational setting, performing defined tasks safely and reliably by 2028.' Four humanoid robots under development were demonstrated at the opening.

Potential missions are deliberately narrow and safety-oriented. For the Singapore Civil Defence Force, robots could handle, contain and sample hazardous materials, reducing officers' exposure to dangerous substances. Police applications include entering unstable areas after explosions to retrieve evidence where secondary blasts or structural collapse pose risks.

The centre is training robots partly through human teleoperation, an approach that keeps a person in the loop while autonomy matures. Singapore's move echoes a broader global push to move humanoids out of show floors and into constrained, measurable public-sector tasks — a step more about reliability and accountability than spectacle.