The U.S. Army envisions a future where robots are integral members of
the team performing autonomous actions and maintaining current
capabilities.
Five years ago, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, known as ARL, set out to pursue this vision by forming the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance. It sought partners in industry and academia to explore technologies required for the deployment of future intelligent military unmanned ground vehicle systems ranging in size from man-portables to ground combat vehicles.
"The future for unmanned systems lies in the development of highly capable systems, which have a set of intelligence-based capabilities sufficient to enable the teaming of autonomous systems with Soldiers," said Dr. Jonathan A. Bornstein, chief, Autonomous Systems Division for ARL and the collaborative alliance manager. "To act as teammates, robotic systems will need to reason about their missions, move through the world in a tactically-correct way, observe salient events in the world around them, communicate efficiently with Soldiers and other autonomous systems and effectively perform a variety of mission tasks."
The paradigm shift is taking robots from being a tool, to being a teammate, Bornstein said.
"One example might be a small unit with a search-and-cordon mission," he said. "One of the things it would have to do is conduct surveillance on all exits of a building. Who is coming out and where are they going? It's a simple question. If I had a squad today, I would send a Soldier to an observation point and just say, 'Tell me who comes out the back door.'"
What Bornstein described is the capstone scenario researchers in the alliance set their sights on when they began the project in 2009. Today, they are almost there.
"We're not as far advanced as we would like to be. You have to have a stretch goal. If you don't, you won't strive to get there. But, we'll do something along those lines," he said.
The Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, or RCTA, brought together ARL researchers and eight industry and academic partners:
• Boston Dynamics
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Florida State University
• General Dynamics Robotic Systems
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• QinetiQ North America
• University of Central Florida
• University of Pennsylvania
Earlier this year, ARL extended the alliance until April 2020; however, Boston Dynamics, which was recently acquired by Google, will not continue as a member.
"Clearly, collaboration is at the heart of the RCTA program," Bornstein said. "Great progress in fundamental research can be achieved by bringing together researchers who have not previously worked together -- as well as by fostering further collaboration among those who have. We need to engage academia and industry so we can get the best possible product. We leverage people to work on problems of importance to us. If we don't get out there and interact with people, they will drive the train in perhaps a different direction, and we won't benefit from it."
Five years ago, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, known as ARL, set out to pursue this vision by forming the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance. It sought partners in industry and academia to explore technologies required for the deployment of future intelligent military unmanned ground vehicle systems ranging in size from man-portables to ground combat vehicles.
"The future for unmanned systems lies in the development of highly capable systems, which have a set of intelligence-based capabilities sufficient to enable the teaming of autonomous systems with Soldiers," said Dr. Jonathan A. Bornstein, chief, Autonomous Systems Division for ARL and the collaborative alliance manager. "To act as teammates, robotic systems will need to reason about their missions, move through the world in a tactically-correct way, observe salient events in the world around them, communicate efficiently with Soldiers and other autonomous systems and effectively perform a variety of mission tasks."
The paradigm shift is taking robots from being a tool, to being a teammate, Bornstein said.
"One example might be a small unit with a search-and-cordon mission," he said. "One of the things it would have to do is conduct surveillance on all exits of a building. Who is coming out and where are they going? It's a simple question. If I had a squad today, I would send a Soldier to an observation point and just say, 'Tell me who comes out the back door.'"
What Bornstein described is the capstone scenario researchers in the alliance set their sights on when they began the project in 2009. Today, they are almost there.
"We're not as far advanced as we would like to be. You have to have a stretch goal. If you don't, you won't strive to get there. But, we'll do something along those lines," he said.
The Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, or RCTA, brought together ARL researchers and eight industry and academic partners:
• Boston Dynamics
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Florida State University
• General Dynamics Robotic Systems
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• QinetiQ North America
• University of Central Florida
• University of Pennsylvania
Earlier this year, ARL extended the alliance until April 2020; however, Boston Dynamics, which was recently acquired by Google, will not continue as a member.
"Clearly, collaboration is at the heart of the RCTA program," Bornstein said. "Great progress in fundamental research can be achieved by bringing together researchers who have not previously worked together -- as well as by fostering further collaboration among those who have. We need to engage academia and industry so we can get the best possible product. We leverage people to work on problems of importance to us. If we don't get out there and interact with people, they will drive the train in perhaps a different direction, and we won't benefit from it."
Source:United State Army website.
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