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View Full Version : U.S. Army Shows Off All Its Latest Robotic Experiments



zeekboy
01-09-2017, 02:22 AM
The Army is making a big push into robots—it just doesn't quite know what to do with them yet.
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The U.S. Army held a demonstration day earlier this month, showing off the latest in military ground robots. The technology, which includes things like self-driving Humvees, is impressive but highlights a problem all of the services are facing: what exactly do you do with all of these robots?
The event, held at Fort Benning, Georgia on August 22nd, showed off a number of Army-funded robotic projects, including a robotic Humvee that acted as the vanguard for manned Humvees assigned to check out a suspected enemy position. According to Defense News, a semi-autonomous Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicle, equipped with a Hoverfly quadcopter drone, joined in the exercise. Once the position was identified, the Humvees engaged the target, with the Hoverfly confirming destruction of the target. A second location was scouted out by a ground drone that rolled out the back ramp of a M113 armored personnel carrier.
In another exercise, the human main gun-loader onboard a M1A2 Abrams main battle tank was replaced with a robotic autoloader, allowing him instead to control the MRZR robotic ATV. A second vehicle, the Automated Direct Indirect-fire Mortar artillery system, engages the enemy to pin it down while a third robotic vehicle, the M58 Wolf laid down a smokescreen to cover the pair of Abrams tanks as they moved into position to destroy the enemy.
As one speaker in the Fort Benning video above freely admits, the Army doesn't quite know what to do with robot technology. Theoretically, the service can basically automate any vehicle it wants, but it can't automate them all, nor should it. There are some things, particularly the control of weapons, where a "man in the loop" making decisions can help avoid terrible mistakes. Exhibitions such as these, attended by actual combat commanders, can help crowdsource applications for robotic technology.
Where would automation make the most difference? Based on the two demonstrations, the Army seems to think that reconnaissance could be a good fit for drones—sending a machine into enemy territory can save soldiers' lives. The Army also seems to think that automation could help keep the 40 year old M1A2 Abrams tank ahead of the latest competition, particularly Russia's T-14 Armata tank.
The Army isn't the only one experimenting with robotics—the Marines are conducting similar experiments within the context of their favorite mission: storming beaches.

https://vimeo.com/231535892