By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News Zen Technologies and its subsidiary AI Turing Technologies have teamed up to create the automated quadruped called Prahasta, a powerful warrior from the Hindu epic the Ramayana. According to news reports, Prahasta uses light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and reinforcement learning to understand and create 3D terrain mapping. That capability can be used for mission planning, navigation and threat assessment. A video released by Zen Technologies shows Prahasta at work (Prahasta (zentechnologies.com) [https://www.zentechnologies.com/prahasta.php]. The robot is seen multiple levels of stairs, carrying an assault rifle on its back. It can go over obstacles up to 16 inches high, and jump over a small gap. Zen says the robot can lift a soldier weighing almost 180 pounds. Finally, the video shows the robot “auto-resurrecting” after being knocked over. The company also unveiled several other products. One of them, Barbarik-URCWS (Prahasta (zentechnologies.com) [https://www.zentechnologies.com/prahasta.php] ), is described as the world’s lightest remote-controlled weapon station. It’s designed for both ships and ground vehicles. “These innovations represent a significant advancement in autonomous defense operations,” said Ashok Atluri, Zen’s chairman and managing director. “We believe the launch of these products will raise awareness around the need to integrate advanced robotics into combat and reconnaissance missions.” Zen is best known for developing ant-drone systems and combat simulators. The company says it has shipped more than a thousand simulators and training systems around the world. Earlier this year, India joined the US and China with its first robot “dogs.” These were developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and are actually known as MULES – Multi-Utility Legged Equipment. Army Networking video India’s army has ordered 100 MULES. They will be used for surveillance and to carry loads through steep terrain. According to the news site The Print, the MULES are equipped with thermal cameras and other sensors. Small arms also can be attached, meaning a unit could engage the enemy without endangering any lives. India already uses unexploded ordnance handling robots (UXORs) to detect and defuse bombs and other explosives. Meanwhile, the US Marine Corps has tested a new breed of robot dogs, built by Ghost Robotics. It’s called the Vision 60 quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and comes equipped with artificial intelligence-enabled rifles (Vision 60 Swamp Dog Q-UGV: Tyndall AFB 24x7 Perimeter Autonomous Patrol (youtube.com) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSXD_cB_Hc]. The robot uses Onyx Industries’ SENTRY remote weapons system, which can detect and track people, drones and vehicles. But it can’t shoot on its own – a human operator, located anywhere in the world, is in control of firing decisions. In May, during exercises with the Cambodian army, China showed off its own robot dog. The military claims it’s the world’s largest electrically-powered quadruped robot, and can carry up to 352 pounds while running six miles an hour. According to the South China Morning Post, the People’s Liberation Army robots were equipped with automatic rifles that could be fired with the accuracy of a skilled human shooter.
