The Robots are Coming!

The movies have been making it a fictional reality for years, but the days of unmanned computer controlled systems may be just around the corner. The Department of Defense is currently working on software that will allow multiple unmanned computer controlled units to communicate, coordinate, and work together to accomplish a goal. Technology advances more and more, to where almost nothing seems impossible. High tech careers will constantly be in need as we press further and further into new territories.

The Collaborative Unmanned Systems Technology Demonstrator (CUSTD) system is a system where, for example, an aerial drone can target a subject from on high, communicate that data to other air units, or even to manned or unmanned ground units, and the system could devise a plan of "attack" and work together to assist in following or engaging the target. By working together, these unmanned units could target, track, survey, report, or even attack the targeted object.

In technical terms, one site put it this way:

Often in scenarios involving multiple, heterogeneous agents, different agents may carry different sensor payloads or have different capabilities. As such, agents may be better suited for different roles and tasks. In real world scenarios, it is useful for agents to collaborate with each other to perform dynamic task allocation for a given mission. The CUSTD platform is used to perform such collaborative, heterogeneous and autonomous missions. The vehicles can send messages over the communications links to each other and negotiate task assignments in a distributed fashion, based on their capabilities and the mission.

At this time, the Georgia Tech Research Institute has performed multiple tests with this system using large model aircraft and small cars. Using the combinations of its onboard computer. video cameras, and multiple sensors, these systems can run real-time scenarios using computer vision algorithms.

See a video demonstration HERE.

The goal would be for all of the different unmanned units to be able to communicate, collaborate, and complete a task without the need of human assistance.

When the terminator humanoid models start being manufactured, we should be worried I guess.

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and an avid musician who is active in two local bands. He is also a lover of books, having a large personal library and squeezes in as much reading as often as he can. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Tech Careers blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.