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Incident · Malfunction

Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour

On its first days patrolling the Washington Harbour complex in Georgetown, Washington DC, a Knightscope K5 nicknamed Steve left its planned path and rolled into a fountain, disabling the unit. The incident went viral as an example of navigation failure in an outdoor public setting. No people were harmed.

Occurred 2017-07-17 · Knightscope K5 · Knightscope

Track Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (3)

  1. TIME · https://time.com/4862263/security-robot-fountain-knightscope-k5/ · 2017-07-17
  2. CNN · https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/18/us/security-robot-drown-trnd · 2017-07-18
  3. NPR · https://www.npr.org/2017/07/22/538624461/i-sink-therefore-i-am-this-robot-wasnt-programmed-for-existential-angst · 2017-07-22

Common questions

What happened in Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour?
On its first days patrolling the Washington Harbour complex in Georgetown, Washington DC, a Knightscope K5 nicknamed Steve left its planned path and rolled into a fountain, disabling the unit. The incident went viral as an example of navigation failure in an outdoor public setting. No people were harmed.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on July 17, 2017 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
What robot was involved in Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour?
Knightscope K5 by Knightscope is the recorded robot involved in this incident.
Has anyone responded to Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-12

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-12

Sources by quality tier

3
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Knightscope K5 veered off course into a fountain at Georgetown Washington Harbour.

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Canonical ID 4a963e29-1884-41cd-9099-e09eaee9e069