Swarm Robotics: Technical and Operational Overview of the Next Generation of Autonomous Systems by Merel Ekelhof, Giacomo Persi Paoli instant download

Swarm Robotics: Technical and Operational Overview of the Next Generation of Autonomous Systems by Merel Ekelhof, Giacomo Persi Paoli instant download

There is significant growing interest in many research laboratories and government agencies in developing swarms of robotic systems that have the ability to coordinate their actions to work collectively towards the execution of a shared goal. Working as a group, the swarm can perform both simple and complex tasks in a way that a single robot would be uncapable of. Each robotic unit within the swarm can be considered an autonomous member that reacts according to internal rules and the state of the environment. Nevertheless, it is precisely this ability of robots to autonomously make decisions (individually or as a group) that raises concerns among the international community.
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In 2014, governments began international discussions regarding emerging technologies in the area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Certain ConventionalWeapons (CCW). In this context, swarms have been discussed – albeit marginally.Concerns about swarms being deployed as (lethal autonomous) weapons have been raised by various States and civil society actors.
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While it is not clear whether States share this concern, States at least recognize that in future scenarios, it would be unlikely that offensive measures would consist of a singular system. Instead, they would consist of swarms of such systems with complementary abilities. Robotic swarms are not yet operational, and the technology is rather brittle, but the prospect of swarms is very real.