The project began several years ago in Brewer's garage but has since been in development at SRI International's facilities in California. The robot, dubbed GoBetween, is designed to make it safer for both the officer and the motorist.

"The main advantage of a robot over a human is that physical danger no longer matters," Brewer wrote after being reached by email by The Post.

"The robot is purely defensive, so it can't hurt the motorist. If the motorist damages the robot, it's only money to replace it."

"People are more dangerous when they're scared, so the goal is to remove the possibility of being physically hurt so that they're less scared and less dangerous," he added.