Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum

A Technical Seminar REPORT

On
“MILITARY ROBOTS ”

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
In
ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS

For the academic year 2018 - 2019 Submitted by

ARPITHA D SINGH
(1CR15EE014)

Under the Guidance

Mr. Ramesh
Assistant Professor
Department of EEE
CMRIT, Bangalore

2018-2019
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering CMR Institute of Technology,
Bangalore – 560037

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 CMR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Bangalore -37
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL &ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation work “ MILITARY ROBOTS ” is a bonafide work
carried out by Arpitha D singh, partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of Bachelor of
Engineering in ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING of the
Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum during the year 2018-2019. It is certified
that all corrections suggestions indicated for Internal Assessment have been incorporated in
the report deposited in the departmental library. The seminar report has been approved as it
satisfies the academic requirements in respect of project work prescribed for the said degree.

Signature of Guide Signature of HOD

________________ _______________
Mr. Ramesh Mrs. Sanitha Michail
Assistant Professor Head of the department
Dept. of EEE. Dept. of EEE,
CMRIT, Bangalore. CMRIT, Bangalore

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The successful completion of task would be incomplete without complementing

those who made it possible and whose guidance and encouragement made my efforts
successful.
We take great pleasure in expressing our sincere thanks to Dr. Sanjay Jain, Principal
CMRIT for his valuable support.
We would like to express our deep sense of gratitude to Mrs. Sanitha Michail C, HOD,
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, for providing good facilities, constant
encouragement and valuable guidance.
We would also like to express our deep sense of gratitude to Mr.ramesh, Assistant
Professor, Dept. of EEE, who guided us to carry out this project, for their exemplary guidance,
valuable suggestions, expert advice and encouragement.
Last but not the least, we take this opportunity in expressing our gratitude and respect
to all those who parents, friends and family who helped an encouraged us during the course of
seminar.

ARPITHA D SINGH(1CR15EE014)

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 DECLARATION

I, ARPITHA D SINGH bearing USN 1CR15EE014 student of eighth semester

B.E., ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS of VTU, declare that dissertation
entitled “MILITARY ROBOTS” embodies the report of seminar carried out by
me under the guidance of Mr.Ramesh, assistant professor, department of
EEE,CMRIT, Bangalore -560037,as partial fulfilment of the requirements for
the award of the degree in bachelor of engineering in EEE affiliated to VTU,
Belgaum during the academic year 2018-19. Further, the matter embodied in the
dissertation has not been submitted previously by anybody for the award of any
other degree.

Place : Bengaluru signature of the student

Date: (Arpitha D Singh)

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 CONTENTS

Topics Page no.

1. Abstract 6
2. Introduction 7
3. History of military robots 8
4. Operation of Military robots 9
5. Types of robots 10
6. Hardware implementation of war 16
field Spying robots
7. Working and Block diagram of night vision camera 17
8. Controlling of war field spying robots 18
9.Advantages and Disadvantages 20
10.Future expectations 21
11.Conclusion 21
12.References 22

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 ABSTRACT

Robotics is one of the hot fields of modern age in which the nations are
concentrating upon for military purposes in the state of war and peace. They have
been in use for some time for demining and rescue operations but now they are
under research for spy missions. Today's modern military forces are using different
kinds of robots for different applications ranging from mine detection,
surveillance, and rescue operations. In order to make robots for the unpredicted
environment of the battlefield, research on different aspects of robots is under
investigation in laboratories. This seminar presents different kinds of robotic
technologies being used in all the three main forces, Navy, Army and Air and how
they work.

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 INTRODUCTION

WHAT ARE MILITARY ROBOTS:

Military robots are remote-controlled mobile robots designed for military
applications, to rescue and attack.
Today, many military organizations take the help of military robots for risky jobs.
The robots used in military are usually employed within integrated systems that
include video screens, sensors, grippers, and cameras. Military robots also have
different shapes and sizes according to their purposes, and they may be
autonomous machines or remote-controlled devices. There is a belief that the
future of modern warfare will be fought by automated weapons systems. The U.S.
Military is investing heavily in research and development towards testing and
deploying increasingly automated systems. For example, the U.S. Army is looking
to slim down its personnel numbers and adopt more robots over the coming years
[1, 2]. The Army is expected to shrink from 540,000 people down to 420,000 by
2019. To keep things just as effective while reducing manpower, the Army will
bring in more unmanned power, in the form of robots. The fact is that people are
the major cost, and first of all their life. Also, training, feeding, and supplying them
while at war is pricey, and after the soldiers leave the service, there's a lifetime of
medical care to cover. Military robots are usually associated with the following
categories: ground, aerial, and maritime, with some of the latest works in all three
discussed in the paper.

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 History
The vision of robot army isn’t a present day concept. The introduction of military
robots is dated back from 1898 by the introduction of radio boats by Nicola Tesla.
It was visualized by many visionaries in the last century. They were used by
Germans and Russians in Second World War. Russians used Teletanks and Goliath
were used by Germans. The Teletanks were equipped with DT machine guns,
flamethrowers and smoke container to provide a smokescreen. The use of Goliath
which is a mobile landmine in World War II by the Third Reich's forces also
marked as a turning point in the history of military robots. And today the
development in this technology is well demonstrated by military robots in
Afghanistan and Iraq. At present the most commonly used military robot is the
unmanned aerial vehicle IAI Pioneer and RQ-1 Predator.

One threatening question must be arising, as in every science fiction movie, it is

shown that robots have gone crazy and started hunting us, will they go crazy in
real world also? Actually, at present it is almost impossible. The developers have
very well taken care of this aspect. Most of the military robots are remotely
controlled by a human. And if someone has gone crazy then there is a reset button
which clear there memory and they again come back to normal state. But with the
development in artificial intelligence and military robots, there should be greater
attention to implicate their ability to make autonomous decision.

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 Operations

Fig. 2: Soviet TT-26 Teletank, 1940

Today military robots use very sophisticated and advance technology for
operations. They use different technologies for reconnaissance, guidance and
weaponry. They basically use GPS, Fiber Optic Tethers, LIDARs for guidance.
GPS is based on satellite connections and is even used in mobile phones. The fiber
optics is a hi-tech and hi-speed communication system especially used by defense.
LIDARs are based on laser communication and no

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 TYPES OF ROBOTS

Military robots come in different shapes and sizes as per the task they are
designated for. In the development of military robots, we can consider
US Mechatronicswhich has created or developed a working automated sentry
gun and is presently developing it further for commercial as well as military use.
As far as military robots development is concerned, we cannot forget MIDARS
which is a four-wheeled military robot. This robot is outfitted with many
cameras, radar, and a firearm that performs arbitrary patrols around a military
base automatically. Their size can vary from a small bot TALON and large
UAV MQ-1 Predator. Their design is also task specific like, predator is for
surveillance and attack from air so it is more like an airplane while TALON is for
attack from ground so it is more like an armoured tank.
There are three popular classes of military robots i.e. UGVs, UUVs and UAVs.

Fig. 3: A Typical Military Robot For Ground Attack

Nowadays used by traffic police to detect over speeding vehicles. For

reconnaissance they use other technologies like cameras, electronic RF
sensor, RADAR, etc. The robots are mainly used for reconnaissance purposes but
they can also carry lethal and non-lethal weapons like AGM-114 Hellfire missiles,
M249 saw machine guns, ammo can, bomb diffusal kits, grenades, etc.

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 UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles)
UGVs i.e. Unmanned Ground Vehicle are those which attack from ground. They
have various sensors, cameras, arms mounted on them. The UGV like big-dog has
been devised as four legged bot it can carry heavy loads that were used to be carried
by soldiers. It has capability to carry load on uneven terrain. Robots like packbots
are so compact, light and robust that army can carry them on their back. Controlled
by a Pentium processor that has been designed specially to withstand rough
treatment, Packbot's chassis has a GPS system, an electronic compass and
temperature sensors built in. Packbot manufacturer iRobot says Packbot can move
more than 8 mph (13 kph), can be deployed in minutes and can withstand a 6-foot
(1.8-meter) drop on concrete -- the equivalent of 400 g's of force. Its design alows
it to flip also.

Fig. 4: An Image Showing UGVs Packbot Robot With Diffrent Parts

The other most popular robot is TALON. It is manufactured by Foster Miller.

The TALON is a man-portable robot operating on small treads. It weighs less
than 100 lbs (45 kg) in its base configuration. TALON is operated with
a joystick control, has seven speed settings (top speed is 6 feet/1.8 meters per

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second) and can use its treads to climb stairs, maneuver through rubble and even

take on snow.
Fig. 5: An Image Of TALON Robot Belong To UGV's

Versatility has been designed into the TALON as well, with multiple possible
configurations available that adapt the robot to the situation at hand. The basic
TALON includes audio and video listening devices and a mechanical arm. A
lightweight (60-lb/27-kg) version omits the arm. TALONs were used for search
and rescue at WTC Ground Zero, and they have been used in Bosnia,
Afghanistan and Iraq for the disposal of live grenades, improvised explosive
devices and other dangerous explosives.

UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)

The UAVs are those which are used from air. They shouldn’t be confused with
missiles. Actually missiles are weapons but UAVs aren’t weapons itself but they
carry weapon. Some of the UAVs are RQ-11A/B Raven, RQ-5A / MQ-5A/B
Hunter, MQ-1 Predator , MQ-9 Reaper etc. Northrop Grumman and General
Atomicsare the dominant manufacturers in UAV industry. There are other
countries except USA also in UAV technology like Israel, Europe, India, etc.
which have successfully developed UAVs and are developing it further.

The military uses several different flying robots, mainly for reconnaissance.
Instead of UGVs, these are known as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), and they
are sometimes referred to as drones. UAVs look like model aircraft, and they
range in size from small planes that can be held by a person and launched with a
good throw, like the FQM-151 Pointer, to full-size airplanes that operate by
remote control, like the RQ-4A Global Hawk.
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RQ-4A Global Hawk
Global Hawk Specifications

Fig. 6: An image Of RQ-4A Global Hawk In UAV's Military Robot

• Length: 44 ft 4.75 in (13.53 m)

• Wingspan: 116 ft 2.5 in (35.42 m)
• Height: 15 ft 2.5 in (4.64 m)
• Weight empty: 14,800 lb (6,710 kg)
• Weight max: 25,600 lb (11,600 kg)
• Speed: 403 mph (648 kph)
• Ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,800 m)
• Range: 11,730 nautical miles (21,720 km)
• Endurance: 36 hours
• Propulsion: Rolls-Royce/Allison F137-AD-100 turbofan

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FQM-151 Pointer
Pointer Specifications

Fig. 7: A still Of FQM-151 Pointer In UAV's Military Robot

• Length: 6 ft (1.83 m)
• Wingspan: 9 ft (2.74 m)
• Weight: 9.6 lb (4.3 kg)
• Speed: 50 mph (80 kph)
• Ceiling: 985 ft (300 m)
• Mission radius: 2.7 nautical miles (5 km)
• Endurance: Primary batteries - 1 hour; Rechargeable batteries - 20 min
• Propulsion: Electric motor
Predator

Fig. 9: Predator Drone UUV Military Robot

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The Predator uses a lightweight, 4-cylinder snowmobile engine, which powers a
rear-mounted propeller, making the Predator a "pusher"-type aircraft. It carries
cameras and other sensors but has been modified and upgraded to carry and fire
two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or other weapons. Hence, it’s no wonder that
technology is moving forward in the direction of creating army of robots that will
not just make our life comfortable but also safe.

UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles)

The next class is UUVs i.e. unmanned underwater vehicle. These marvels have
capabilities to be operated underwater. UUVs were envisioned to contribute to the
following SSN mission areas: Mine Warfare (MIW); Intelligence, Surveillance,
and Reconnaissance (ISR); and undersea environmental sensing and mapping. The
Talisman UUV is a fully autonomous unmanned mini-sub designed and made by
BAE Systems. It has the capability to perform shoreline reconnaissance when the
risks may be deemed too high, or conditions unsuitable, for human operators. The
Talisman system comprises a vehicle and remote control console. The vehicle can
be re-programmed in mid-mission by satellite and features a carbon fibre hull
giving it a stealth-like profile and low observability. Talisman can carry a wide
variety of payloads, such as image capture, environmental sensors or mine counter
measures.

Fig. 8: An Image Of Talisman UUV Designed By BAE Systems

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 A Brief Idea about War Field Spying Robot
So let us have a brief idea about how we can use a robot in war fields for spying
purpose. All that is needed is a wireless camera fitted on the robot circuit which
captures images and videos of enemy territories and transmits these images, which
are received by the receiver unit of the TV.
We can design a simple prototype of a war field spying robot which can controlled
remotely and the images transmitted by the camera can be monitored and analyzed
on a television.

Hardware Implementation of War Field Spying

Robot
All we need to have is the following components to design a war field spying robot
apart from a base with wheels and motors.
• Sensor Unit – A wireless Night Vision Camera: Apart from what a basic
camera consists of, it consists of a transmitter unit. It captures images and
transmits these images through the transmitter in form of digital signals,
which are received by the receiver unit connected to the TV or computer.
The camera can be as far as 30 miles away from the receiver. A night vision
camera can receive illumination either by amplifying the visible light using
image intensifiers or using infrared light directly by objects – thermal
imaging or infrared light reflected by objects-near infrared illumination.
• A Receiver Unit: The robot also consists of a receiver unit which receives
the command signals for controlling the motors and thus the robot unit.
• Actuators: It consists of two DC motors as actuators which provide reverse
and forward motion to the robot.
• Control Unit: It consists of a remote transmitter unit consisting of
microcontroller, encoder and a RF module and a receiver unit embedded on
the circuit consisting of an RF receiver module, a microcontroller and a
decoder.

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 How a War field Spying Robot Night Vision
Camera Works?
The wireless night vision camera embedded on the robot consists of a wireless
transmitter. A cluster of IR LEDs are placed which are used to provide IR light to
the image sources. The reason IR light is preferred is because at night time, it is
usually dark and since any camera needs light for illumination, infra red light is
the most preferred option as all objects emit a range of Infra red light. The camera
is powered with a 12 V battery and captures these images and transmits them to
the receiver unit connected to a Television unit. The images are converted to digital
signals by the transmitter unit and the receiver unit receives these digital signals
and reconverts them to images and these images or videos are then monitored and
analysed on a Television unit.

Block Diagram Showing Basic Working of the

Robot with Night Vision Camera

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 Controlling the War Field Spying Robot
The entire control of the robot is done remotely. It consists of a transmitter section
which transmits the required information to the receiver section. The Robot is
simply covered by pressing few buttons at the transmitter side.

Block Diagram Showing Transmitter of War Field Spying Robot

The transmitter unit consists of an encoder which receives parallel data input from
the microcontroller through the push buttons and transmits this parallel data in
serial format through the RF module. On pressing the respective push button,
Microcontroller is programmed to send relevant signals to the Encoder in parallel
form. The encoder converts these parallel signals to serial form to be transmitted
by the RF module. This serial data is modulated with a carrier signal using a RF
transmitter and is transmitter. For example if we press the left button, the
microcontroller sends the command to the receiver unit through the encoder and
the RF module.

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 Block Diagram Showing Receiver of War Field Spying Robot

The receiver unit consists of a RF receiver module which demodulates the received
signal and a decoder which receives the serial data through the RF receiver module
and converts it into parallel form. The Microcontroller uses this data to give
appropriate control signal to the motor driver IC to control the operation of the two
motors. Thus the robot can be moved forward or in reverse direction by controlling
the motor, while the camera does its work simultaneously.

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 Advantages of Military Robots

→ Highly flexible- capable to perform variety of tasks and application.

→ Save lives of soldiers.
→At the time of war where it can be used to collect information from the enemy
terrain and monitor that information at a far secure area, and safely devise a plan
for the counter attack.
→Tracking locations of terrorist organizations and then plan attack at suitable
time.
→Making a surveillance of any disaster affected area where human beings can’t
go.

Disadvantages of Military Robots

→Costly to manufacture or buy robots.

→Maintenance cost is more.
→Thy need supply of power.

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 Future Expectations
In the near future robotics will reach new heights. All the dreams where robots do
our jobs will come true. And military is not an exception. At present there are many
hostile and painful tasks that have to be performed by humans but in near future
most of them will be done by them. In future news headlines would be like”5 robos
saved bank robbery”, “a robo team has vanished terror camp, no casualties
reported” and many more. This future is very close.

There are many research and developments going on for replacing robots for
humans in army. In U.S. there is a project going on, named project Alfa, a U.S.
Joint Forces Command rapid idea analysis group, which is conducting a study
focusing on the concept of developing and employing robots that would be capable
of performing not all but almost all the functions in battlefield. The study,
appropriately titled, “Unmanned Effects: Taking the Human out of the Loop,”
suggests that by as early as 2025, the presence of autonomous robots, networked
and integrated, on the battlefield might not be the exception, but, in fact, the norm.
In support of the study, USJFCOM sponsored a workshop at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore. The workshop addressed by experts in robotics and
artificial intelligence, was designed to develop a skeletal operational concept for
the employment of autonomous machines and to raise awareness throughout DoD
about current robotic technology and it’s future potential on the battlefield.
According to Gordon Johnson, the Unmanned Effects Team leader for Project
Alpha, the aim of the study was to articulate a vision for the use of robotic forces
and promote the formation of a Department of Defense-level office that will
coordinate and integrate efforts across the armed services, ultimately resulting in
joint-service development of unmanned effects (UFX), rather than the course of
service-centric research that currently exists.

Now a variety of military robots is under consideration. TAC i.e. Tactical

Autonomous Combatant is capable in working on ground, air, space, or undersea
environments, and in humiliating conditions of extreme heat or cold. Further they
will be capable of operating in chemically, biologically, or radioactive
contaminated environments. As the name suggests TAC be autonomously

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operated or with very little human intervention though humans have to guide them
but humans have to just guide them from miles away.

The present technology of military robotics is also amazing. The predator which is
a latest UAV in service of USAF and Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) is in use
since 1995, has seen combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq,
Yemen and Libya .

CONCLUSION:

Here after I conclude that military robots are certainly essential to save the
mankind from the terrorists and other humanoid assault activities.

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 References

1. Steve Coll, Ghost Wars (Penguin, 2005 edn), pp.529 and 658 note 6.
2. ^ Robots and Robotics at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center
Pacific Archived 1999-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Welcome to Grandchallenge". www.grandchallenge.org. Archived from
the original on 2007-10-11.
4. ^ Talbot, David. "The Ascent of the Robotic Attack Jet". MIT Technology
Review.
5. ^ ""Платформа-М": Роботизированный комплекс широких
возможностей". arms-expo.ru. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
6. ^ Guardium Military robot Archived 2005-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Korean gun bots Archived 2011-01-15 at the Wayback
Machine theregister.co.uk
8. ^ Schafer, Ron (July 29, 2003). "Robotics to play major role in future
warfighting". United States Joint Forces Command. Archived from the
original on August 13, 2003. Retrieved 2013-04-30.

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