Everyone is familiar with industrial robots
gliding around assembly lines helping to build cars. Less well-known are the
inexpensive, domestic versions that will automatically mow your lawn, vacuum
your house or entertain your child. Robots are no longer confined to
manufacturing processes – they have become consumer products in their own
right.
They are also set to become the next great pursuit of amateurs and hobbyists
all over the world. Clearly something exciting is happening in the world of
robotics, and this extends to the military domain. As commented by a US
representative from the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) at a
recent meeting: "Systems of systems will replace every major combat system
in the battlefield with distributed robots - in the air and on the ground,
autonomous, net-centric and integrated."
If this vision is only partly true, robots are set to play a major role in
future military systems. BAE Systems’ future products will include
autonomous vehicles capable of operating for extended periods without
supervision. Groups of land, sea, air and underwater robotic platforms will
co-operate, on their own initiative, to perform complex missions that currently
require significant human intervention. This promises unprecedented capability
for armed forces, allowing them to automate activities that are currently
expensive, dangerous or simply mundane.
Scientists and engineers at ATC are addressing the challenges by developing key
technologies, which include recent advances in robotics. Robotics is closely
aligned to the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has sought to build
intelligent machines since the 1950s. Since 1990, a new approach has emerged
which now dominates the field. This approach is called behaviour-based AI.
Inspired by considering how simple organisms function, it enables highly
reactive systems to be built that can operate in real-time.
Insects, for example, are thought to have a set of simple basic behaviours that
determine the actions they perform. Responding to environmental cues, they are
able to react quickly to a rapidly changing situation. Another powerful feature
is the behaviour that arises when individuals co-operate. Ant colonies, for
example, can exhibit complex social behaviours such as nest building, bridge
building and defending against intruders. By turning to behaviour-based AI, we
have been able to demonstrate collective behaviours, such as 'flocking' and
'formations', usig our in-house robots.
We have also shown how defence-specific behaviours can be designed and
implemented to support the operation of high value units, such as aircraft
carriers, land forces and strategic buildings. Our future plans include more
sophisticated robotic behaviours, implemented on more representative platforms
and exercised within competitive environments.
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A variety of ATC's robots
Artists impression of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) co-operating |
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