War Without Bloodshed?

- Researcher Says Robots Could Fight Future Battles

S H E F F I E L D, England, Sept. 17 — Future wars could be fought by robots commanded by humans, a specialist in robotics told Britain’s leading science conference. Within five years, “we could withdraw from war completely and let robots shoot it out,” said John Pretlove, a lecturer at the University of Surrey.

In addition to waging war, a system of integrating virtual reality and the real world could be the key to creating robots that could carry out other hazardous tasks such as mine clearance, undersea exploration and work in radioactive environments, Pretlove said.

Developed by the U.S. Navy, the Robart 3 demonstration robot has a "toy" machine gun that fires rubber darts. (Systems Center San Diego)

“The key to this work is that we are not trying to replace the man mentally but physically. We are trying to use the human for what humans do best,” said Pretlove, who is also a specialist in robotics for electrical engineering group ABB.

The system of integrating the real and virtual worlds—augmented reality—was similar to that used in films such as “Jurassic Park,” Pretlove said. It could give humans a better picture of events and would allow them to control robots more effectively from a safe distance.

Controlled by Remote

Remote control robots using traditional technology such as video cameras have already been developed. For example a NASA robot called Dante transmitted messages from inside an Alaskan volcano in 1994.

Augmented reality was a step forward after largely unsuccessful efforts to create robots that were intelligent, Pretlove said at the annual British Association Festival of Science.

“In this approach (augmented reality) one doesn’t try to replace the human mind with a computer but rather to have the computer and the operator co-operate to achieve what neither could alone,” Pretlove said.

From Sports to War?

Computerized teams of robots from five universities played in a volleyball tournament at the science festival on Monday but Pretlove noted the robots tended to pick each other up rather than the ball. A problem that would not occur if the robots were remotely operated by humans.

“Relations between man and machines will become much more peer to peer. We will come to rely on machines in a different way to how we do now,” Pretlove said, but, “we will always be able to pull the plug,” he added.

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