British soldiers with captured German Goliath radio-controlled tanks.

Predator drone

Military robots are autonomous or remote-controlled devices designed for military applications. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3231x2480, 2640 KB) Source [1] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Military robot Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3231x2480, 2640 KB) Source [1] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Military robot Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner... Goliath The Goliath tracked mine was a remotely-controlled, caterpillar-tracked, tank-like explosive devices developed and used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2347x1513, 486 KB) The RQ-1 Predator. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2347x1513, 486 KB) The RQ-1 Predator. ... Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle flies on a simulated Navy aerial reconnaissance flight off southern California in December 1995. ...

Such systems are currently being researched by a number of militaries. Already remarkable success has been achieved with unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator drone, which are capable of taking surveillance photographs, and even accurately launching missiles at ground targets, without a pilot. A subclass of these are Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles, which are designed to carry out strike missions in combat. UAVs in a hangar An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a pilotless aircraft, controlled either remotely or flown autonomously, used for a number of missions, including reconnaissance and attack roles. ... Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle flies on a simulated Navy aerial reconnaissance flight off southern California in December 1995. ... A Boeing X-45A UCAV The Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) is the name of a new class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that have been designed to carry out air strikes. ...

Present use

Bomb disposal robot

The term "robot" is often a misnomer in the present day to refer to these machines, since while a robot performs "autonomous or preprogrammed tasks" most "robots" in current use are in fact remote controlled by a human operator and have no automation or intelligence, due to the limitions of current artificial intelligence. Download high resolution version (1470x982, 1655 KB) Bomb disposal robot. ... Download high resolution version (1470x982, 1655 KB) Bomb disposal robot. ... US Soldiers removing landmines. ... For other uses, see Robot (disambiguation). ... A remote control is a device used for the remote operation of a machine. ... Hondas humanoid robot AI redirects here. ...

Robots are used increasingly in wartime situations to reduce human casualties, being used for a mix of both combat against the enemy and non-combat roles such as scouting, bomb disposal. At present stages robot casualties are less financially damaging than human, SWORDs taking $230,000 to produce while the average cost of a U.S. soldier from enlistment to internment is $4,000,000.[1] US Soldiers removing landmines. ...

Developments

the combat version of the Foster-Miller TALON, SWORDS.

Defense contractors in the USA are hard at work developing autonomous "robot soldiers", but most current models look more like tanks than humans. There are problems with threat recognition and response; some models will not shoot cows with guerillas crouched behind them, but will fire at anything stenciled with an AK-47 silhouette. Image File history File links [1] U.S. Army photo by Sgt. ... Image File history File links [1] U.S. Army photo by Sgt. ... The Foster-Miller TALONâ„¢ robot is a remote control tracked vehicle used primarily by the U.S. Army for explosive ordinance disposal. ... A defense contractor (sometimes called a military contractor) is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a defense department of a government. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal apes belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes). ... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ...

In December 2003, the Associated Press reported that The Pentagon had purchased several Segways, as part of a research program called "Mobile Autonomous Robot Software", an attempt to develop more advanced military robots. December 2003: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → Events December 31, 2003 In Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian signs a law that allows referendums to be held. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located at 48 N. Rotary Road, Arlington, Virginia 22211 (Map). ... Inventor Dean Kamen demonstrates the Segway HT at the U.S. Department of Commerce on February 14, 2002. ...

Examples of systems in development

• US Mechatronics has produced a working automated sentry gun and is currently developing it further for commercial and military use.[2]
• MIDARS, a wheeled robot outfitted with a camera and possibly a firearm, that automatically follows a pre programmed route, around a base or installation for instance. It alerts a human overseer when it detects movement, or other programmed condition. The operator can then instruct the robot to ignore the event, or take over remote control to deal with an intruder, or to get better camera views of an emergency. The robot would also regularly scan barcodes of stored inventory as it passed and report any missing items.
• US scientists at MIT are known to be "looking into building a mechanical super-fighter ... able to heal his own wounds, leap buildings, deflect bullets and even become invisible" which "won't be ready for at least 10 years."[3]
• Tactical Autonomous Combatant (TAC) units, described in Project Alpha study 'Unmanned Effects: Taking the Human out of the Loop' - TAC robots are seen as being faster and more lethal than human soldiers, and able to work in more hazardous environments. This study, which was done in 2003, saw TACs as a reality by 2025.
• ARV
• ACER
• ARTS
• BigDog
• Dassault Neuron
• Dragon Runner
• Goalkeeper CIWS
• MATILDA
• PackBot
• R-Gator
• RAAS
• Syrano

Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... Project Alpha is a U.S. Joint Forces Command rapid idea analysis group created to identify high-impact ideas from industry, academia and the defense community that could transform the Department of Defense into an organization better equipped to deal with the uncertain landscape of the future. ... The Armored Combat Engineer Robot (ACER) is a military robot created by Mesa Robotics. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... nEUROn (formerly spelled Neuron) is the European UCAV technology demonstrator. This delta wing stealth Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle project is the final phase of the French Dassault Aviation LOGIDUC 3-step stealth combat drone programme. ... External links CMUs snooping robot going to Iraq Dragon Runner Mobile Ground Sensor Categories: Military stubs ... Goalkeeper CIWS on a British Invincible-class Goalkeeper is a Dutch close-in weapon system, the purpose of which is to defend a ship against incoming missiles and ballistic shells. ... Packbot is a series of robots. ... SYRANO (Système Robotisé dAcquisition pour la Neutralisation dObjectifs, Robotic system for acquisition and neutralisation of targets) is the first operational battlefield robot of the French military. ...

Systems in current use

Foster-Miller TALON SWORDS units equipped with various weaponry.

• Foster-Miller TALON (the weaponised version being known as the Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System or SWORDS)
• RQ-9 Predator B
  • RQ-1 Predator
• Guardium

Image File history File links SWORDS.jpg‎ This image is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made during the course of the persons official duties. ... The Foster-Miller TALON™ robot is a remote control tracked vehicle used primarily by the U.S. Army for explosive ordinance disposal. ... The Foster-Miller TALON™ robot is a remote control tracked vehicle used primarily by the U.S. Army for explosive ordinance disposal. ... Predator-B Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. ... Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle flies on a simulated Navy aerial reconnaissance flight off southern California in December 1995. ... The Guardium is a unmanned security vehicle (USV), created by IAI/Lahav. ...

Issues

The implications of mastering and using this type of technology are wide, with the possibility of advanced artificial intelligence causing unforseen consequences (especially if weaponized machines are ever given AI on the level of sentience), the possibility of robots being hacked into and used against the owners or the possibility of simple machine breakdown leaving soldiers defenceless if robots are relied on too much. Sentience is a capacity for basic consciousness—the ability to feel or perceive, not necessarily including the faculty of self-awareness. ...

In literature, a play published in 1921, 'Rossum's Universal Robots' by Czech writer Karel Capek, tells the story of how people built better and better robots until they finally built robots to fight wars. In the end, the robots decide that fighting is crazy, and take over the world. This idea has since become a common staple of fiction in books, films and television. R.U.R. (Rosumovi Umělí Roboti) (Rossums Artificial Robots, but usually translated as R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots) to preserve the acronym) is a science fiction play by Karel Čapek. ... Karel Čapek. ...

There are many advantages in robotic technology in warefare however, as outlined by Major Kenneth Rose of the US Army's Training and Doctrine Command[4]: "Machines don't get tired. They don't close their eyes. They don't hide under trees when it rains and they don't talk to their buddies ... A human's attention to detail on guard duty drops dramatically in the first 30 minutes ... Machines know no fear."

Fiction

Military robots are common in fiction of all media.

Film

• The androids in the 'Alien' film series
• The Terminator series
• The Matrix series

A Droideka from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

• The Star Wars series
• Lost in Space
• Robocop
• I, Robot
• Short Circuit
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• AI
• Bladerunner
• The Iron Man
• Stealth

The android Data, portrayed by Brent Spiner, from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation An android is a robot made to resemble a human, usually both in appearance and behavior. ... The Alien film series is the group of films that take place in the Alien universe. ... The Terminator series is a series of science fiction films concerning battles between Skynets artificially intelligent robots and human beings. ... The Matrix series consists primarily of three films, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. ... Image File history File links DroidekaAOTC.jpeg Summary Source URL: http://starwars. ... Image File history File links DroidekaAOTC.jpeg Summary Source URL: http://starwars. ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) is the fifth Star Wars science fiction movie released and the second part of the prequel trilogy which began with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. ... Opening logo to the Star Wars films Star Wars is a science fantasy saga and fictional galaxy created by writer/producer/director George Lucas during the 1970s. ... Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series produced between 1965 and 1968 by television producer Irwin Allen. ... RoboCop is a 1987 science fiction action movie, directed by Paul Verhoeven. ... I, Robot is a science fiction film filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, but produced in the United States released on July 16, 2004, attributed to Isaac Asimovs Robot Series, especially a short-story collection of the same name. ... For alternate meanings see Short circuit (disambiguation) A short circuit (sometimes known as simply a short) is a fault whereby electricity moves through a circuit in an unintended path, usually due to a connection forming where none was expected. ... // This disambiguation page covers alternative uses of the terms Ai, A.I. and artificial intelligence. Ai (as a word, proper noun and set of initials) can refer to many things. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Iron Man is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, and a member of The Avengers. ... Stealth can refer to several things: Look up stealth in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Television

• Battlestar Galactica
• Buck Rogers
• Robot Wars
• BattleBots
• Robotica

Title card from the original Battlestar Galactica series Battlestar Galactica is a franchise of American science fiction films and television series, the first of which was produced in 1978. ... This entry is for the science fiction character Buck Rogers. ... Robot Wars is a competition involving remote controlled miniature vehicles built by mechanics, engineers and inventors, and equipped with weapons, to battle with one another in an arena, gladiator-style, until only the winner is left operational. ... BattleBots (also BattleBots, Inc. ... Robotica Logo Robotica was a robot combat show produced for the American television cable channel TLC, a subsidiary of the Discovery Channel. ...

Literature

• Various books by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov, Ph. ...

Computer games

• Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War
• Earthsiege 2
• Starsiege
• Messiah
• Z

Deus Ex (commonly abbreviated DX) is a first-person shooter/computer role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. ... Deux Ex: Invisible War is a computer game. ... Earthsiege 2 is a mecha-style simulation computer game for Windows 95, released by Dynamix in 1995. ... Starsiege is a mecha-style simulation game developed by Dynamix and released in 1999. ... Messiah is a third person shooter video game developed by Shiny and published by Interplay. ... Z (pronounced Zed) is a 1996 real-time strategy computer game by the Bitmap Brothers. ...

See also

• Robot combat
• Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle
• Powered armor
• Network-centric warfare

Robot Combat is a hobby in which two or more radio-controlled machines use varied methods of destroying or disabling the other robot. ... A Boeing X-45A UCAV The Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) is the name of a new class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that have been designed to carry out air strikes. ... It has been suggested that the section Exoskeletons in modern and near-future technology from the article Exoskeleton be merged into this article or section. ... Network-centric warfare (NCW), now commonly called Network-centric operations (NCO), is a new military doctrine or theory of war pioneered by the United States Department of Defense. ...

External links

Organisations

• United States Joint Forces Command website: "Leading the transformation of the U.S. military"
• irobot.com, builder of the PackBot and the R-Gator systems
• US Mechatronics, builder of the first publicly known, working fully-automated gun
• Boston Global, builder of BigDog

Packbot is a series of robots. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

News articles/Press releases

• USJFC: 'Robotics to play major role in future warfighting'
• New Model Army Soldier Rolls Closer to Battle (SWORDS)
• TALON Small Mobile Robot
• Robotic Systems Pool at robot.spawar.navy.mil
• Carnegie Mellon University's snooping robot going to Iraq
• PackBot Battlefield robotic Platform
• Miniature Unmanned Aerial Systems - UAV
• Guardium Autonomous Security Vehicle
• Unmanned Ground Systems from Israel
• High-Tech Military in Due Course
• Launching a new kind of warfare