Robot Dogs Recruited to US Air Force

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The US Air Force is working on deploying teams of semi-autonomous robot dogs to bases across the country in an effort to enhance installation security and safety. 

Tyndall Air Force Base (Florida) will be one of the first Air Force bases to implement semi-autonomous robot dogs into their patrolling regiment. Over the last year, this base and the 325th Security Forces Squadron have been working with Ghost Robotics to develop a system to enhance security and safety for the base population. The robots’ capabilities were recently demonstrated at Tyndall. 

The model is known as Vision 60, a military-grade version of the company’s Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicle platform designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, distributed communications, and “persistent security.”

The robot dogs will be used as a force multiplier for enhanced situational awareness by patrolling areas that aren’t desirable for human beings and vehicles. 

The robots are not intended to replace the military working dogs. Instead they will aid in patrolling operations and, in doing so, allow Tyndall’s defenders to focus their efforts on security actions that require a physical presence, including training, security and overall situational awareness across the base.

The soldiers will be able to drive them via a virtual reality headset and see exactly what the robot dog is detecting through its mobile camera and sensor platform. They will also be able to issue verbal commands to a person or people through a radio attached to the dogs.

This technology has the potential to replace and exceed the capabilities of certain static defense equipment especially in a contingency, disaster, or deployed environment, according to dvidshub.net.