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Cartoon illustrates real-world issues for unmanned systems

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bizarro cartoonSometimes, a simple image contains a lot of info.  For example, Dan Piraro’s “Bizarro” cartoon illustrates several real-world issues for unmanned systems, some of which are discussed in this blog:

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Think Outside the Bot: Simple Solutions Through Innovation

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robot dogA familiar cliché in autonomy research is that we want unmanned systems to be like a dog, i.e. independently capable of some tasks, but fundamentally subject to the control of a human operator.  Researchers at Auburn University evidently felt “like a dog” wasn’t adequate and went for the real thing.

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Big Brother, We are Watching You: An Opinion about PRISM, New Technology, and Privacy

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Big Brother and Privacy

Privacy in the news

If you follow the news, it seems that many technological advances – computers, internet, emails, cell phones, and even unmanned systems – have turned against us.  Instead of tools that serve, they have become instruments that watch and track.

Leaked documents revealed widespread government intrusion into emails and telephone metadata. Senators have raised suspicions about intrusive FBI investigative techniques.  States fear Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and are restricting police access to them. Activists groups are agitating for privacy protections.

Even Superman is annoyed. In the movie Man of Steel, he trashes a UAV that was following him, while growling, “You can’t find out where I hang up my cape.”

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Unmanned Ground Vehicles & Privacy

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PrivacyEye spy
I was having dinner with a new acquaintance when an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) bumped my foot. I looked down and saw a radio-controlled toy.

“Oh, don’t mind that,” said my host.  “That’s just my son playing.”

“He plays too much with that thing,” groused the boy’s father. “What really bothers me is that it has a camera.  I’m don’t like being spied on in my own home.” Read more

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Cars are the new Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV)

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I once read a quote from a futurist that many distinctions that we currently take forcar granted will be not be valid in the future. Things that seem as different as day and night will be indistinguishable. Day and night, for example. The proliferation of night vision and other sensor technologies will cause future generations to have radically different views about the level of privacy traditionally offered by the cloak of night. Another distinction that is already blurred is the one between manned and unmanned vehicles.  Read full article here.

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Robotics Roadmap 2013 Highlights

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Roadmap robotRecently, the 2013 Robotics Roadmap was presented to the Congressional Robotics Caucus.  This is an updated version of the 2009 report, which helped established the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), a federal multi- agency joint effort.

Members of the unmanned system community are barraged with roadmaps all the time, so it would be tempting to ignore this one. However, key influencers are involved in this roadmap, so it should be considered seriously. You can slog through all 129 pages of the report or examine the highlights described here.

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RSJPO Roadmap & ICAF Robotics Report

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RSJPO Roadmap and ICAF Robotics Report

The last two blog postings were about what will not happen in 2012.  We thought we would take a break from this series and predict what you can expect.   Without a doubt, you can expect more reports, visions, and roadmaps from the Department of Defense.   Here are two recent DoD documents that are worth a look.

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Unmanned Systems Markets: What people are saying

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Unmanned Systems MarketsLike many of you, I receive numerous ads for market research studies. In order to excite our interest, they often contain a few snippets of facts. I decided to combine all these“snippets” with the goal of forming a coherent vision of the future of unmanned systems markets.

You can’t get there from here

In addition to examining market research reports, I contacted a few thought leaders within the profession. I also posted questions about unmanned markets in the social networks of LinkedIn and Quora. Read more

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UAVS INVESTIGATE FIRES

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Utilizing UAVs for firefighting is well-known.  This video demonstrates unmanned systems being used for fire investigations, a completely different application. The ease of determining the causes of fires is directly related to the view the investigators have of the burned trees.  The perspective provided by high-definition cameras on small UAVs is close to ideal.  I doubt that many developers could have predicted this particular use for unmanned systems.  As unmanned systems diffuse into the civilian/commercial sector, we can expect more unexpected applications.

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A future for manned unmanned vehicles?

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If the unmanned vehicles and systems’ community could trade acronyms for  manned unmanned vehicles dollars, we’d pay off the national debt. One particular acronym, OPV (Optionally Piloted Vehicles), is popping up all over the place. Northrop Grumman unveiled Firebird, an aerial OPV for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that boasts a 65 foot wingspan. The Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap outlines plans for helicopters that are both manned and unmanned. The Army also developed Autonomous Vehicle Navigation Systems (ANS) specifically for optionally piloted ground vehicles. Read more

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