More ground robots to serve alongside Soldiers soon

The dawning of a new age of Army ground robots will soon be here, said Scott Davis, program executive officer for Combat Support and Combat Service Support.

Davis spoke during a session of the National Defense Industrial Association, or NDIA,-sponsored Ground Robotics Capabilities Conference and Exhibition, here, April 7.

"Established and emerging robotics programs of record will be fielded in the 2019 to 2024" time frame, he said, before describing some of those possible programs.

The robotics include autonomous and semi-autonomous systems used to clear mines, provide surveillance, convoy supplies and acquire targets, among many other things.

While ground-based, semi-autonomous systems such as mine-clearing proliferated during the last decade of war, these systems are a hodgepodge of nonstandard, non-interchangeable system parts, many of which have not yet made the transition into programs of record, he said. They were hurriedly built for the immediate need to save Soldiers' lives.

 http://www.army.mil/article/146061/More_ground_robots_to_serve_alongside_Soldiers_soon/