iRobot's Sentinel. (pic: iRobot)

The real revolution in military affairs, P.W. Singer claims in his recent book, Wired for War, isn’t the advances in sensor and intelligence technology, or even communications networks, but in robotics. Singer argues that while the networks are important, “history will care far more about what these linkages enable. That is, these new digital links are important, but hot as much as the platforms they now allow. What will stand out, what is historic for war, and human history in general, are the robotic weapons now playing greater roles on the battlefield.”

Teleoperated ‘bots (controlled remotely by humans) have been in use in Iraq and Afghanistan for several years now, performing mostly bomb disposal and improvised explosive device detection work, and that’s probably unlikely to change in the near-term, but robot makers are working to give future military commanders a whole host of autonomous robotic capabilities almost undreamed of a decade ago. The only thing is, according to some in the industry, the military hasn’t yet thought of applications for some of their more groundbreaking technologies.

Joe Dyer, president of Government and Industrial Robotics Division for ‘bot powerhouse iRobot, says that the company has spent the past eighteen months focusing on what they’re calling the Autonomous Vehicle Kit—a conversion kit that can be mounted on a manned vehicle that allows it to operate autonomously. “It’s a much cheaper way into autonomy,” he says, “and it also reserves the capability of the vehicle to be man-operated.” The company is in discussions with the Army about the kit, but Dyer points out that across the Dept. of Defense “you don’t see any programs of record or any procurement efforts underway,” for such capabilities. “Right now we’re in one of those times where technologies are being developed and there’s a technology push that’s really waiting for a requirements pull.”

A big part of that push is developing ways for one person to be able to control “swarms” of ‘bots simultaneously. Teleoperated ‘bots currently operate on a one-to-one basis with humans, which puts an upper limit on how many unmanned systems can be in use at any one time. To try and overcome this limitation, QinetiQ is developing software—dubbed SURC (Soldier Universal Robot Controller)—the technology enables collaboration among multiple vehicles simultaneously. The company’s Todd Jochem  says that they “have it waiting in the wings to help support what we think the customers are going to need in the future.” iRobot is also getting into the swarm control business, with its Sentinel system. Using a handheld device, an operator can watch the bots via a feed from a UAV, or graphically like on a Blue Force Tracker, and using a stylus, click a point on the screen indicating where they want the robots to swarm. They’re “pretty far” along in development, Dyer says, and the ‘bots can avoid obstacles and arbitrate decisions in route. Dyer says that the single operator can also break ‘bots off from the large group, and control several smaller groups at once. But as Jochem and Dyer note, it’s a technology without a real-world application just yet. You can lead groups of robots to points on a map, but what they do when they get there, and how they react to friendly and unfriendly elements on the ground, is the real test of robotics—one with which human developers, operators, theorists and policy makers are only now beginning to grapple.