[Popular Science of Chinese Military Technology] Do the rapidly evolving humanoid robots dream of going to the battlefield?

In the game, the humanoid robot Chloe slowly said, "Humans have something that bionic people don't have, and that is the soul." In film and television works, science fiction stories about humanoid robots are told; in real life, the American humanoid robot "Sophia" was granted citizenship...

In recent years, humanoid robot technology has made rapid progress and entered the human vision in many fields. This is due to the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, the ingenious bionic structure design and the ever-changing drive control technology.

So, when humanoid robots collide with military operations, can they lead the future battlefield? Can their military application be achieved as expected? Today, let us explore the military application of humanoid robots.

The picture shows the American humanoid robot "Sophia" (Source: Internet)

Overview of the development of humanoid robots: fully equipped

The so-called humanoid robot, also known as a humanoid robot, refers to a bionic robot that can imitate human legs to walk. It has a certain level of intelligence and has a more complex structure, sensing, driving and control system than ordinary robots. Reasonable bionic design is the basis for humanoid robots to play their functions. The current development of humanoid robots can be summarized from four aspects: appearance characteristics, perception ability, analysis ability, and action ability.

From the perspective of appearance, humanoid robots basically have the basic form of humans, with complete structures such as limbs and head. However, humanoid robots currently do not have bionic skin and are still far from real people in appearance.

In terms of perception, humanoid robots are already equipped with RGB-D cameras and stereo microphones, which can fully perceive and construct a 3D model of the surrounding environment. In terms of motion perception, humanoid robots are equipped with position and torque sensors, which can accurately obtain limb position and motion force information. At present, the perception means of humanoid robots are still being further developed. Technologies such as laser radar and infrared imaging have been gradually implemented on humanoid robots, and the perception ability of humanoid robots has been further enhanced.

From the perspective of analytical capabilities, more mature technologies can achieve hybrid perception based on existing knowledge, ultimately enabling robots to have analytical capabilities that meet the required levels and to automatically complete some complex tasks. With the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence, a new generation of analytical and judgment technologies based on artificial intelligence will be applied to humanoid robots, enabling them to independently complete more complex tasks.

From the perspective of mobility, the capabilities of humanoid robots can be summarized in three aspects: flexibility, load and endurance. At present, the joints of humanoid robots have reached more than six degrees of freedom, and some models also use a spherical joint structure, which further improves flexibility. In terms of load and endurance, taking the German Space Agency's Rollin'Justin robot as an example, it can carry a load of 20 kilograms and work at a maximum speed of 2 meters per second for 1 hour. At the same time, this model also has joints with up to 12 degrees of freedom. At present, humanoid robots have basically reached the human level in terms of mobility, and because they have no physical limitations, they can work continuously as long as the power supply allows, and have far exceeded the human level in some scenarios dominated by endurance.

The picture shows the Rollin'Justin robot being tested (Source: Internet)

Current military applications of humanoid robots: To be developed

As early as 2013, the US military announced the successful development of the humanoid robot "Atlas". According to the information released at the time, "Atlas" is composed of two arms, two legs, a torso and a head that simulate the structure and size of the human body. It is 1.88 meters tall and weighs 150 kilograms. "Atlas" can dodge the sudden appearance of wooden boards on the conveyor belt in time, or jump from a high place and land steadily. It can also walk through the two sides of the trap with its legs apart and then run up the stairs; it can still stand on one leg with one foot to maintain balance after being hit by a 9-kilogram billiard ball. The US military hopes to use robot soldiers in one-third of ground battles by 2015, but this goal has not been achieved so far, and "Atlas" still exists as an experimental plan.

The picture shows "Atlas" undergoing a motion ability test (Source: Internet)

The Russian military also pays close attention to humanoid robots. In 2015, the head of the Russian Future Research Foundation said that a humanoid robot capable of performing combat missions would learn to run, cross obstacles and perform other actions by the end of the same year. In 2017, the Russian Android Technology Company developed a humanoid robot named "Fedor". "Fedor" can pick up instruments and operate them in specific scenarios, and its accurate shooting ability shows great potential in military operations.

In general, military humanoid robots in various countries around the world are still in the conceptual or experimental stage and have not been deployed on a large scale. The battlefield potential of humanoid robots has yet to be explored.

The battlefield potential of humanoid robots: both hope and challenges

On the one hand, humanoid robots have many possible applications in future battlefields. First, battlefield environments increasingly show traces of human activities, such as towns, industrial areas, and farms. These environments are designed for humans, and humanoid robots with human form have significant advantages in these environments, and can simulate real people to use various systems in the environment. On the other hand, the widespread use of humanoid robots will rapidly promote the construction of unmanned military. Traditional manned equipment can be adapted to humanoid robots for operation. By operating traditional manned equipment with unmanned humanoid robots, the equipment is actually unmanned. In this way, military forces with large traditional manned weapons can quickly get rid of the inertia of using manned equipment. At the same time, since there is no need to develop unmanned equipment separately, the cost of unmanned military operations can be greatly reduced, and the scale of unmanned operations can be rapidly expanded.

The picture shows the conception of humanoid robots on the battlefield in film and television works (Source: Internet)

In summary, the relevant technical indicators of humanoid robots have developed to a relatively high level, but it cannot be ignored that humanoid robots still need to overcome a series of problems such as power and energy, control and signal, material and durability, and combat weight before they can be put into use on the battlefield. Therefore, humanoid robots have not yet been widely used in the military. In the increasingly complex battlefield environment of the future, humanoid robots may have a wider space to play. By then, the humanoid robot troops going to the front-line battlefield will no longer be a scene from a science fiction blockbuster.

Guo Bingxin is a core member and leading student of the Center for International Studies of the National University of Defense Technology. He has published more than 50 articles in important print media such as the People's Liberation Army Daily, China National Defense News, Military Digest, and central-level online media such as the Chinese Social Sciences Network and People's Daily Online. Zhong Yuhang and Lei Hongyu are members of the theoretical research group.

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Producer: Guangming Online Science Department

Author: Guo Bingxin, Zhong Yuhang, Lei Hongyu (National University of Defense Technology)

Review expert: Fu Songyang (National University of Defense Technology)

Editor: Jin He