Marine Corps Eyeing Modular, Interoperable Robotic Systems.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

The Marine Corps is investing and experimenting with new ground robotic technology that service officials believe will help keep troops out of danger while enhancing their situational awareness.

At the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, officials are grappling with an evolving threat environment that requires the development of cutting-edge capabilities to keep pace with adversaries, said Jeff Tomczak, the lab's deputy director for science and technology.

One area of focus is the infantry squad. The service wants to give Marines robotic systems that enhance their capabilities on the ground.

"I see things changing so rapidly in the robotics world," Tomczak said during an interview. "There are requirements that are being built that are going to expand the use of robotics systems across the whole spectrum of robotic systems--air, ground, surface."

However, the service doesn't want to pursue technology that will become a liability for Marines, he noted.

"You want a battle buddy and you want something that is as good or better than what you have in regard to either a person next to you or a piece of equipment next to you," he said. "What we don't want to do is just add another tool in the tool kit that they don't use."

The lab plans to invest in fully autonomous systems, he noted.

"There's more goodness than badness with autonomy," Tomczak said. "Some people will say, 'Hey, you can't go everywhere with... a fully autonomous system.' We know that. We know you can't. But we are going to continue to expand the envelope on where we can go and what we can do."

The Marine Corps doesn't have plans to remove humans from the loop, Tomczak noted. But with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning "we're starting to see where the cognitive burden on the squad member is starting to go down because it's less about driving the system... [and it's more] about employing an asset, a warfighting, enabling asset" at the right time and place, he said.

When it comes to ground robots, modularity is important, Tomczak said. The warfighting lab is currently working on a ground system known as the expeditionary modular autonomous vehicle, or EMAV. The tracked platform has a flat top that can carry more than 7,000 pounds. The service can outfit it with different types of sensors, communications equipment or weapons, he said. It is also able to transport causalities.

Historically, when a member of a squad is injured it could take upwards of two to four...