AUTONOMOUS MACHINESBY: TYLER ROBERTS

HISTORY

• Started in WWII and the Cold War

• Now several military robots have been/are being deployed and developed by the armies of many countries.

• Many of this new technology can be credited to DARPA.

TYPES OF MILITARY AUTONOMOUS MACHINES• Ground Robots

• Aerial Robots

• Marine Robots

• Immobile/Fixed Robots

TYPES OF MILITARY AUTONOMOUS MACHINES• Land/Ground mobility uses legs, treads, wheels, snake-like locomotion, and hopping.

• Flying robots are known to use propellers, jet engines, and wings.

• Underwater robots usually resemble submarines or boats when used above water.

• Some vehicles capable of moving in more than one medium or terrain have been built.

GROUND ROBOTS

• These small vehicles can/may be carried by a soldier in a backpack such as the PackBot.

• Typical armed robot vehicles are: • Talon SWORDS• MAARS

AERIAL ROBOTS

• Unmanned flying vehicles (UAV’s)

• Reconnaissance while being unmanned, and carrying cargo/weapons

• Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) can carry a camera for reconnaissance, serving the same purpose as UAV’s but on a micro scale.

MARINE ROBOTS

• Surface ships as well as Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs)

• Surveillance, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine combat

• LMRS uses two sonar systems, an advanced computer and its own inertial navigation system to survey the ocean floor for up to 60 hours.

IMMOBILE/FIXED ROBOTS

• Both on land and on ships

• The Navy’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS). CIWS is a rapid-fire 20mm gun system designed to protect ships at close range from missiles which have penetrated other defenses

MORAL/LEGAL/AND ETHICAL ISSUES

• Arguments over the legal and ethical legitimacy of particular weapons poison as a weapon in war, for example, or the crossbow go back very far in the history of warfare.

• Who is responsible if the use of an autonomous weapon results in a violation of international humanitarian law?

MORAL/LEGAL/AND ETHICAL ISSUES

• Predator and Reaper unmanned drones• The success rates of these drones are very questionable. Below is a summary

of US drone strikes as of January 2014:Total strikes: 381Total reported killed: 2,537 - 3,646Civilians reported killed: 416 - 951Children reported killed: 168 - 200Total reported injured: 1,128 - 1,557

CONCLUSION

• Autonomous robots both on and off the battlefield will need to make choices in the course of fulfilling their missions

• Potentially harmful consequences for humans and other agents worthy of moral consideration

• Implementing moral decision-making faculties within robots will proceed slowly

REFERENCES• http://ethics.calpoly.edu/ONR_report.pdf• http://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/Anderson-Waxman_LawAndEthics_r2_FINAL.pdf• http://www.academia.edu/202045/The_Ambiguous_Ethical_Status_of_Autonomous_Robots

• http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/faq/q-and-a-autonomous-weapons.htm

• http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/aug/19/autonomous-machines-systems-report

• http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/releases/shownews.htm?NewsID=511

• http://techdigest.jhuapl.edu/TD/td2604/Watson.pdf

• http://illinoisjltp.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Kastan.pdf

• http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/403762/the-ascent-of-the-robotic-attack-jet/• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-9_Reaper• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/business/17uav.html?hp&_r=0 • http

://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/02/03/january-2014-update-us-covert-actions-in-pakistan-yemen-and-somalia/

• http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/drone-strikes-interactive-visualization-pitch

QUESTIONS?