The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is on a mission to develop more advanced autonomous technology that can turn robots into “teammates” on the battlefield. During the Pentagon’s recent “Lab Day” exhibition, DOD researchers displayed some of the impressive robotic capabilities being developed for defense applications. They also stressed the need for advancements that would have robots functioning more independently in combat and other situations. 
Image Source: Wikimedia Intuitive, Hands-Free Robot Operation Currently, most defense robots are controlled through a tele-operated system. This means that they must be guided through the use of a hand operated control, requiring a soldier to put down their weapon to make use of a robot while another soldier provides security. Researchers at the ARL are looking for ways to change that level of hands-on interaction to something more intuitive for a soldier in the field. Robots That Understand And Respond Chief of the Asset Control and Behavior Branch at ARL, Dr. Stuart Young is working with other DOD researchers to create robots that are able to understand natural human language and respond accordingly. This is part of an effort to make autonomous technology serve more of a teammate function for soldiers rather than just as tools. Getting robots to understand the intent of a mission, rather than just the parameters of a given task, will be a key capability for this type of military technology. Working Toward Natural Engagement Dr. Young explained during this year’s Lab Day, “We are focusing on natural language dialogue, which is a bi-directional conversation we can have with the robot. I want to be able to naturally engage with the robots. So if I, for example, say go to that building over there, you might say ‘which one?’ And I could say ‘the tall one.’ It’s a way for us to have a dialogue and disambiguate what you intend for the robot to do.” 
Pentagon Seeks Autonomous Advancements For Battlefield Robots was first seen on Magoda
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