1Rollo puts autonomous-driving technology on one wheel for security patrols

1Rollo autonomous monowheel security robot

▲ The 1Rollo is an autonomous monowheel security robot developed by Estonian startup Rollo Robotics. (Photo: Rollo Robotics)

What happens when you take the perception, positioning, obstacle avoidance and remote-monitoring layers associated with autonomous cars, then remove three of the four wheels? Estonia’s Rollo Robotics is building one possible answer with the 1Rollo autonomous security robot.

The monowheel machine has attracted a fresh wave of international coverage, but it is not a brand-new August launch. Rollo showed a prototype at CES earlier this year, announced a €3.7 million pre-seed round, and later unveiled an updated machine at Latitude59. The company described that version as bigger, faster and more stable, with its first real deployment coming soon.

1Rollo prototype displayed at CES 2026

▲ Rollo Robotics publicly demonstrated a 1Rollo prototype at CES earlier this year. (Photo: Rollo Robotics)

▲ 1Rollo undergoing on-site testing. (Video: Rollo Robotics)

It is closer to a compact autonomous-mobility stack than a rolling camera

Rollo’s own website lists autonomous patrol along predefined routes, 360-degree HD imaging, object detection and recording, licence-plate recognition, two-way audio, motion detection and automatic recharging. The company sees potential applications ranging from industrial sites and airports to data centres, campuses and critical infrastructure.

Newer prototype information reported by New Atlas brings the system even closer to the architecture familiar from autonomous vehicles. It uses 360-degree computer vision and RTK GNSS positioning to follow a predefined map, while cameras and sensors detect obstacles and anomalies. Alerts can be sent to human operators over 4G, 5G or Wi-Fi, with two-way communication available through onboard audio hardware.

1Rollo autonomous patrol robot undergoing on-site testing

▲ 1Rollo is designed to autonomously patrol, monitor and detect anomalies within predefined environments. (Photo: Rollo Robotics)

That does not make the 1Rollo a tiny robotaxi. It is not being presented as a machine that freely navigates public roads. The more useful comparison is technological: perception, localisation, obstacle avoidance, connectivity and fleet monitoring are being repackaged for controlled patrol environments.

The single wheel is the difficult part

A one-wheel robot looks mechanically simple, but keeping it upright adds another layer of control. New Atlas describes the latest prototype as using an internally mounted vertical spinning flywheel for balance, with steering achieved by tilting that flywheel.

Rollo has made stabilisation a core part of its intellectual property. The January funding announcement said the investment would be used to mature the company’s gyroscopic stabilisation technology and move the project from advanced R&D toward commercial production.

Why does the official site say 10 km/h while newer reports say 30 km/h?

This is the main specification caveat. Rollo’s website currently lists a 35 kg machine with a top speed of 10 km/h and up to eight hours of battery life. After Latitude59, however, the company said the new prototype was bigger and faster. New Atlas, using information supplied around the newer functional prototype, reports roughly 45 kg, a top speed of 30 km/h and up to eight hours of runtime.

Those figures should not be merged into one specification sheet. The sensible interpretation is that 1Rollo is still evolving rapidly and that the website figures may refer to an earlier iteration. The final commercial hardware could change again before volume deployment.

The business model may matter as much as the robot

Rollo is also moving toward Robotics-as-a-Service, or RaaS. The term already appears in the company’s hiring activity, while CEO and co-founder Sander Sebastian Agur told New Atlas that customers are expected to subscribe to the service instead of buying the hardware outright.

That changes what a customer is purchasing. Rather than owning a robot, a security operator could be paying for a defined patrol capability — hours of autonomous monitoring, recording and anomaly detection — while hardware, software, maintenance and updates remain the provider’s responsibility.

Why should Malaysia watch this?

Rollo has not announced a Malaysian deployment, so this should not be treated as a local product launch. The concept is still relevant because controlled environments such as industrial parks, logistics centres, car parks, data centres and campuses are among the most practical places for autonomous mobility to expand first.

The more realistic question is not whether machines replace every security guard. It is how repetitive patrol and recording tasks are divided between autonomous systems and human decision-makers. That human-machine split is already appearing across automotive technology, from driver assistance to AI-assisted vehicle inspection.

Move Auto's Take

The important part of 1Rollo is not its science-fiction appearance. It is evidence that the technology stack we call “autonomous driving” is becoming portable. Vision, localisation, sensors, connectivity and cloud fleet control can run a robotaxi, a delivery machine or a one-wheel security platform. If RaaS becomes the commercial model, customers may eventually buy autonomous labour as a service rather than the machine itself.

Related Reading

Follow Move Auto for more on AI, autonomous mobility and the technologies moving from cars into the wider physical world.

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