Smarter Robots for U.S Military

The U.S. Army is building smarter robots to help it complete the more dangerous tasks with minimal risk to human lives. It already has an existing fleet of about 3,000 small tactical robots deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan which use sensor technology to sweep sensitive areas for Improvised Explosive Devices or IED's.

Lt.Col. David Thompson of the U.S. Marine Corps said that the army was moving from tele-operating to semi-autonomy in robotics. In this a robot could be sent from point A to point B without any intervention.

Smaller robots which can search for bombs, map areas and detect hazardous material with little or no human intervention are the promise of new technologies currently being developed.

The latest cutting edge technologies could mean robots will have the ability to automatically right themselves if they fall, correct their course and change direction all by themselves.

Feedback from "the field" is critical in the development of this new breed of robots. Thompson also said that he would rather have a robot blown up than a soldier or a marine.