The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on robots that can march alongside foot soldiers. The Pune-based Research and Development Establishments, a unit of DRDO, is currently working on the concept.
The lab is into developing robotic systems for the military. If successful, these robots would march beside foot soldiers during operations.
The project was started a year ago with the goal to reduce the load of the foot soldier.
Usually, during operations, foot soldiers carry ammunition, ration, and other equipment. According to lab officials, these robots can carry the load for an entire group. The robots can be used to carry the load to a certain distance and from there, soldiers can take it forward.
The robots would travel in an autonomous mode. That means they would match the speed of the foot soldiers. That is also the challenging part of this concept. The DRDO lab will use a range of technologies such as artificial intelligence to achieve it. There would be options for manual operations as well. It would be the first-of-its-kind development.
The lab’s other product ‘confined space remotely operated vehicle’ can be used to remove explosives from cramped spaces like the railway coach or an aircraft. The product is currently at the Transfer of Technology (ToT) stage.
