How is Robotics important in Defence?
From the beginning of the 21st-century, Robotics has been a staple of advanced manufacturing. With the gradual development in technology, scientists of the robotics industry have developed new ideas and inventions to use the robots in defence forces, Entertainment, Space exploration, Security system and many risky mission executions. If we see around ourselves, we find that terror always remains our first enemy across the boundaries, so the use of robots has been enlarging to save the human’s life. Many countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. are still facing with the regular threats of terror. Now, it is being estimated that the future will be handled by robots and the unmanned machines, that will protect human life. With time, the robots are becoming an indispensable part of our lives.
Suggested Read: Top Defence Robots Manufacturers.
Applications of robotics in defence sector :
Robotics and Autonomous systems (RAS) are highly used in many sectors, especially since the technology has geared up speed which turns robots into less expensive and compact, at the same time, more flexible and easier to interact with.
As Robots become more reliable and miniaturized, that’s why these machines have gain lots of attention for military and law of enforcement purposes. The main applications of RAS (Robotic and automation system) that can be beneficial to use them in the wars:
- Robots can go to war: Having suitable sensors and cameras, mobile robots are operated remotely for patrolling dangerous areas and transmit video images to its operator. Also, mobile robots play a vital role in military matters by searching the potential explosives and neutralize them.
- Defuse bombs: Instead of having people near hazards such as unattended objects or car bombs, robots can be used to replace humans at that place. If an operator of a robot finds something explosive, then the robot can make that place safe by deactivating the dangerous object.
- Explore ground-in-mines: Some robots can be used to detect underground mines or improvised explosive devices with the help of a metal detector.
- Transport heavy supplies: The robot-like ARV (Armed Robot Vehicle-Assault) is a perfect example of the military robot that is based on Multi-Function utility Logistics and equipment. This robot is used for transportation of heavyweights to free the soldiers and follows them with necessary types of equipment, food or weapons. We can operate it manually, remotely or autonomously.
- To deal with different types of terrain: Many countries have been developing new robotic platforms that can operate in undefined areas and complete the given tasks by working in the late night.
- Securing Security Robots: In a military, the transmission of data should be very secure as it contains the vital information of the operations. Such types of robots have invented to transmit the data that is secured in both ways so no one can interfere with or steal the information.
The most common robots used in military are small and tough, with the built-in sensor who have the ability to tackle almost any terrain. The overall objective is to invent such robot-warriors that declines the number of human victims in the wars.
Types of robots used in military
There are many different types of robots that are used in various fields of the military services to do the different and risky tasks that may be not possible to perform by humans. Some of them are:
- War field spying robot with a night vision camera: This is an intelligent robot with the wireless camera that can be operated remotely for monitoring and control purposes. This robot is used for capturing videos in the late night or at dark places and then, remotely transmits them to PC or TV by using wireless technology. It is used in military services to know about the status of enemies around the alarming areas.
- Fire fighting robot remotely operated by Android applications: This type of robots are used in military as well as other sectors to extinguish fire such as train accidents or bomb blasts in wars. This works as a fire extinguisher as it consists of the water tank that is used to sprinkle water in an affected area.
- Pick-N-Place Robotic Arm and Movement Controlled by Android Applications: This intelligent robot is used to handle the bombs especially while catching them and avoids the danger of explosion on the suspected object. It is outfitted with a soft catching gripper for pick and place, and the remote operation is achieved by Bluetooth via android phone.
- Voice Controlled Robotic Vehicle with long-distance speech recognition: This type of robots depends on the voice commands to operate that are received by the speech recognition module. The commands can be operated by a push or speech button which is equipped on the machine. This type of robots are used in the military to distinguish between the voices of military men or to cross-check the voice passwords for the security.
- Metal Detector Robot Vehicle: It is such an intelligent robot that has the ability to check the landmines under the ground. These types of robots have ample scope in the military for the safety of arm forces. It operates by sensing the metal that is hidden under the ground while moving a vehicle ahead.
Above are some prototypes of robots that are used in the Military. Moreover, the expertise of a robotic industry has been developing more robots to ease the life of soldiers that may take a couple of years to come out.
Robotics has shown their presence in every civil domain as well as in the military. The need for robots to perform tasks in the military is expanding with vast pace as the military is always approaching for new ways to keep their people out of harm’s way. In other words, we can say that Military applications are a growing market for robotics, and will continue go on. In the end, we can’t deny the fact that Robots are liable to change the way of the military operations in the future, and we can also foresee a new type of missions in Defence if the technology will grow at this pace.