Robots are hardly new.

World War II first saw military application of robots in the form

of use of the Goliath mobile landmine by Germans marking a turning point in the history
of military robots, as did the Soviet Teletanks that were wireless remotely controlled
unmanned tanks. Later, the US MQ-1 Predator drone enabled the CIA to collect
intelligence, as is being done in Syria and Iraq today for operations against the Islamic
Caliphate of ISIS. Existing military robots include guided missiles, military spacecraft,
UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs),
autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), smart ammunition, surveillance and
navigation (GPS) satellites etc. The ICBM itself is a very large type of rocket with guidance
systems. Then missiles are of multiple types and are deployed depending on the type of
targets. Armed UAVs / UCAVs are in prolific use. It is largely felt that military robots are
autonomous or remote controlled devices designed for military applications, different
from robots used for industrial production in that they do not produce things, but interact
in warfare like control of missiles and vehicles in order to have unmanned devices that
are either tele-operated or find their way, automatically guided by laser beams or GPS
satellites. But then there are dual use technologies in robotics that contain many
commonalities between civil and military applications. Actually R&D for a military or a
civilian robot is the same, only difference being the function that the robot is required to
perform. So, robotics technology inherently contains dual‐use elements for both civilian
and military applications. Akin to the AgBot demonstrated to PM Modi, there are multiple
civilian applications for robotic technologies including in the spheres of engineering,
infrastructure maintenance, surgeries, agriculture, rescue and disaster response, care and
life support and other services like guiding and aiding the needy etc. While military robots
have applications in war and in life threatening tasks, equally life threatening tasks can
be accomplished during disaster relief and rescue operations. Research is ongoing to solve
multiple challenges, combining technologies, to make robots with more advanced
capabilities and make them increasingly autonomous.
Simultaneous to robot armies being developed, robot restaurants have already gone
public in countries like Japan and China, latter also having demonstrated a gigantic fire
breathing dragon to entertain public. These robots have artificial muscles instead of
electric motors. Our Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) has developed
the Sarap; snake-like modular robot that uses genetic algorithms to perform various
functions. Drone cameras are in use with our police already, even as Amazon is readying
for drone deliver orders at your doorstep. Toy and gaming robots are quite common. Fully
autonomous heavy robots are likely to advent around this decade. Robots will increasingly
be used in manufacturing like in the automobile industry. The IBM keyboard
manufacturing factory in Texas is reportedly 100 percent automated. Robots such as
‘Hospi’ are used as couriers within hospitals for movement of medical documents and
files. Such automation has been in use in developed nations more than two decades back
and could be part of hospital modernization in India. Indian industry too has fair share
of automation using robotics. Automation in the Reliance Refinery in Gujarat is well
appreciated by first time foreign visitors. Remotely controlled flying robots are
increasingly cheaper and sometimes more capable in flight endurance than manned
flights. Their equipment and capacity in imaging and recording is affordable and available
as COTS. A flying drone may take in more information, fly longer and cover areas where
manned flights would find it difficult and dangerous to fly.

Robots have extensive applications in civil engineering. They can be used for quantifying
settings of an alternator, determining position of an underwater object in real time, three
dimensional mapping of a structural surface, spatter collection for cutting a tubular
object, aligning one or more wired in a plane, tooling a structural part underwater,
submersible robot for operating a tool relative to a surface of an underwater structure,
moving ultrasonic sensors and measuring devices along a pipe, motorized assembly for
moving sensor modules around a pipe, remote controlled inspection and intervention
vehicle for high tension power system, remote controlled vehicle travelling on conductors
which can also pass over obstacles by means of temporary support rotors, remote
controlled vehicle designed to be mounted on a support and capable of clearing an
obstacle etc. Use of robots in civil defence is catching up. Saudi Arabia plans to utilize
robots to rescue victims who fall into exposed artisan wells having asked King Abdullah
City for Science and Technology (KACST) and other international companies to design a
robot for such rescue missions. India could take a cue from this with numerous cases of
children falling in bore wells. The world's largest civilian research and innovation
program in robotics was launched in June 2014 by the European Commission involving
some 180 EU companies and research organizations, covering areas such as
manufacturing, agriculture, health, transport, civil security and households. The
SPARC initiative is EU’s industrial effort to strengthen Europe’s position in the global
robotics market. This new public-private partnership, under the umbrella of euRobotics
is expected to create over 240,000 jobs in Europe, and increase Europe’s share of the
global market to 42 percent (a boost of €4 billion per year, £3.244 billion).

Though global robotics market is not fully mature, robots are becoming all pervasive.
Their application goes much beyond factories. Technically, one or more software
compatibility layers have yet to emerge to allow the development of a rich robotics
ecosystem similar to today's personal computers but research is ongoing by Microsoft and
others. Japan already has agricultural robots and is developing robots to care for elderly,
medical robots for low-invasive surgery, household robots and nano-robots. China and
South Korea are undertaking similar developments. US DoD in 2006 had said that by
2015 one third of US fighting strength will be composed of robots and b one third of US
fighting strength will be composed of robots and by 2035 the first completely autonomous
robot soldiers in operation. Helen Greiner, Chairman iRobot had predicted that by 2034
robots would be performing most household tasks, and by 2050 robot "brains" based on
computers that execute 100 trillion instructions per seconds will start rivaling human
intelligence. India has abundant manpower but for its economic development, we must
optimize on robotics in all possible spheres of agriculture, engineering, infrastructure
maintenance, surgeries, disaster response, rescue, care and life support, in addition to
requisite military applications for India’s defence. A focused vision and roadmap with
timelines is required for advancing artificial intelligence and robotics. Leapfrogging
technology should be possible with opening up of the defence-industrial complex and
liberalizing FDI in defence. With proliferation of robots in the government and civil
domains, particularly drones, regulating and privacy regimes would need to be evolved.
Robots are essential and inclusive to India’s development and we need to get going. The
Prime Minister’s call “research is the mother of development, and is intrinsically linked
to the development” should act as the catalyst.
I
ndia is looking to induct futuristic weapon systems such as
submarine-launched drones, highly manoeuvrable combat UAVs,
an additional aircraft carrier and laser weapons in the next
decade, a defence ministry roadmap for acquiring new technology
reveals.

The Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap (TPCR- 2018) is

meant to give the defence industry a heads-up for developing
technology sharing partnerships and production arrangements for the
future.

The roadmap also shows how the Indian military will be structured in
the future, with a list of 221 products that it would acquire in the
2020s. These range from the standard bullets and shells for the Army
to high-energy weapons for the three forces and next generation
communication equipment.

The list also perhaps lays to rest a confrontation between the Navy and
defence ministry over plans to add another aircraft carrier to the fleet.
At present, India operates one carrier (INS Vikramaditya) while
another (INS Vikrant) is under construction at Kochi. The Navy has
been keen on a third but its proposal was met by objections from the
ministry due to the financial resources required.

However, the new roadmap says that that the Navy is planning to
acquire another aircraft carrier with an operational life of 40 years.
Details on the technical requirements for the carrier are being
finalised, according to the document. Besides, a range of other
warships, including new generation destroyers, Offshore Patrol
Vessels, new Corvettes and missile boats will be acquired by the Navy.

The forces will also acquire a new range of drones that will take them
into the next decade and beyond of unmanned warfare. Besides
surveillance drones for patrolling, artillery tracking and urban
security, the forces require new submarine launched UAVs as well as
combat drones to take on enemy targets.

Also needed are stealth UAVs that have a range of over 1,500 km,
capable of achieving an altitude of over 50,000 feet. The roles
envisaged for this class is communication interception, weapons
jamming and detection of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Combat UAVs that the Army and Navy plan to acquire need an
endurance of over 24 hours, with capability of engaging static and
moving ground targets from a minimum stand-off distance of 20 km.

Other future weapon systems include high energy laser systems and
electromagnetic weapon system that can be mounted on heavy
vehicles to take down radars, communication systems, electronic
warfare systems with an effective range of 6-8 km. In the future, these
systems will be needed for anti-satellite roles as well, according to the
roadmap.

The Army, in particular, wants robotic systems to take down

improvised explosive devices (IED) that it encounters in counter-
insurgency operations. These need to be able to operate in urban areas
to safely defuse explosives from a safe distance.
The roadmap advises the industry to keep ‘Make in India’ in mind
while pursuing these technologies. “Pursuing any development or
collaboration, the Indian industry should accord due importance to
the Indian government’s thrust towards ‘Make in India’. The Ministry
of Defence is committed to the Government’s drive towards
development of indigenous production capability in the private and
public sectors,” it says.
The Army is teeing up three new ground robot programs of record as it moves beyond the systems
that were rapidly fielded over the past 14 years of war, a service official said Oct. 29.

Requests for proposals will be going out in 2016 for two small robots intended for mounted and
dismounted troops and a squad mission support vehicle later In the decade, Scott Davis, program
executive officer for combat support and combat service support, said at an Association for
Unmanned Vehicle Systems International conference in Arlington, Virginia.

The man-transportable robotic system mark II is envisioned for explosive ordnance disposal and
other missions and can be transported in a tactical wheeled vehicle. The Army will release an RFP in
the second quarter of 2016, he said.

An RFP for common robotic system-individual for dismounted troops will come in the first quarter of
2017 and should weigh less than 25 pounds including the controller, he said.

The Army is also moving out on a small vehicle, the squad mission equipment transport, which is
designed to carry equipment for dismounted troops in rough terrain. Davis said it will probably come
In three sizes. Army Training and Doctrine Command is working on the requirements, with an
engineering, manufacturing and development phase beginning about 2019 and lasting three years.
They would be either tele-operated or fully autonomous.

The Army is also pursuing completely autonomous ground resupply operations by 2040, the director
of the service's Tank and Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center said.

That includes unloading supplies off ships, placing them on trucks and then having those trucks
drive themselves to their ultimate destination all without a person in the loop, said Paul Rogers,
director of TARDEC.

Starting his talk by acknowledging the Army's glacial pace of integrating robotic technologies into its
force, Rogers assured attendees that the service was methodically working toward a day when
robotics and autonomous systems are integral to the way it conducts missions.

"Robotics and autonomous systems are key to [having a] differential advantage over our
adversaries," he said.

TARDEC is working closely with TRADOC on a robotic and autonomous systems strategy that will
serve as a roadmap and provide requirements across all domains, he said. These domains include
communications, space, cyber and air. They all have crucial roles to play if ground robots are to be
successful, he said. The strategy is expected to be published in March.

"Just leaving it at the ground domain is short sighted," he said. Space and communications are vital
for linking to robots. Cyber security must be built in to ensure adversaries can't interfere with the
vehicles. Air assets will be needed for coordinating aviation and ground robot teaming.

As for completely autonomous convoys, the Army plans to move at a deliberate pace. It has proven
over the last decade that it can drive trucks down a straight, well developed road, but there is more
to it than that. It is taking an evolutionary approach with driver-assist technology, now common in
commercial vehicles. It would move on to soldiers handing over the bulk of driving to robotic
appliqué systems with the driver taking over complex tasks. The final vision is for no humans in the
loop at all, he said.