MOSCOW: Russian engineers have developed an artificial brain enabling tanks and other armored vehicles to move around without the help of a human driver, Russian media reported.
Scientists have now developed a deep learning machine smarter than your average college-educated human.
“A smart system like ours can be installed on just about any digitally-controlled tracked platform, be it a tractor or a self-propelled gun,” Alexander Grivachev, the head of research and development at Kursk State University, told Krasnaya Zvezda army newspaper.
To showcase their invention, the developers installed it on a scaled-down model of the legendary T-34 tank, which then moved around obstacles using onboard sensors and was even able to track an imaginary target by rotating the turret.
“You can either indicate on the touchscreen the finish point the robot is to move to, bypassing fallen trees and other small obstacles, with the help of artificial vision and an obstacle detector effective at speeds up to 30 kilometers per hour… Or you can draw the entire route on the screen. In both cases the system will need outside help only when dealing with hard-to-negotiate obstacles, while the work of the onboard generators and the diesel engine, and sending commands to the electric motors is done automatically,” the newspaper learned at the university press center.
The artificial brain program was entirely developed in Russia without any foreign help.
“We maintain continuous control over everything the robotic system is doing to rule out a situation where machines rise up against people, something like what we saw in the Terminator movie,” the new system’s designers explained.