By: Reese Bobo

Updated July 14, 2017 to reflect ROBOCOPP’s name change to eALARM911.

It’s a situation the majority of college students fear: you’re walking home from a late night study session across campus and you suddenly realize that you’re being followed. So, what do you do? Run? Pull out your pepper spray (which you may not even know how to use)?

One of the founders of BOBOCOPP was troubled to find that when it came time for his sister to go to college there weren’t many practical, reasonably priced personal safety devices available for her to use. This realization sparked the invention of the original ROBOCOPP device, nicknamed the “Sound Grenade.”

The company was recently absorbed into BASU.COM, and the product was renamed eALARM911.

Resembling a small USB, the device easily clips to a keychain or backpack. When one feels threatened, he or she can simply pull the pin out of the Sound Grenade, and it will emit a 120- to 130-decible alarm (think ambulance siren).

One just has to look at the numbers to prove the efficacy of eALARM911’s products to prove the efficacy of its products. An estimated 68 percent of attackers will immediately turn and run at the sound of an alarm.

Even with the initial success of the sound grenade, eALARM911 wanted to go further.

The ROBORanger is the world’s first connected personal alarm which automatically initiates a 911 response to the user’s exact location. While the use of an alarm deters attackers in almost 70 percent of situations, the added immediate 911 response could mean the difference between a scare and serious injury—or worse.

A Kickstarter is currently up for the brand new device. The first ROBORanger shipments are expected to go out July 2017. Water resistant, TSA approved, only needing a cell signal to work, and reasonably priced, these are almost guaranteed to be a hit.

The original Sound Grenade has already given Cal State East Bay students a better sense of security. In a personal safety initiative this fall, the administration gave out original Sound Grenades to very thankful freshmen, who said that the device made them feel exponentially safer about walking home at night.

Interested in getting in on the ROBORanger early? Visit their kickstarter page. For now, anyone can order a Sound Grenade on Amazon for as low as $15.