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In partnership with
Once a staple of science ction, robots are
driving a historic revolution in technology
that is profoundly changing our world.
THE
UNMANNED
MISSION
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T
he word robot rst appeared on the
scene in 1921 when Karel

Capek, a writer
living in what was then Czechoslovakia,
wrote a play called Rossums Universal
Robots. Then, as now, business was
booming. As the play opens, Rossums
general director is dictating a letter
about a recently received order for 15,000 of its new robots.
In the years that followed, robots became a staple of sci-
ence ctionfrom the sexy Maria in the 1927 lm Metropolis
to Arnold Schwarzeneggers T-800, the central gure in the
Terminator series. But how things change. In the last decade,
advancements in computing and demand for ways to lower
human costs have led to a surprisingly quick and wide-scale
adoption of what were once futuristic, sci- products.
The U.S. force that invaded Iraq in 2003 had a handful
of unmanned planesnone of them armedand no un-
manned ground vehicles. Today more than 7,000 unmanned
systems are in the air over Iraq and Afghanistan, ranging
from Predators with 55-foot wingspans to micro-aerial vehi-
cles that soldiers launch by hand. On the ground, more than
12,000 PackBots and other unmanned vehicles are hard at
work nding and defusing roadside bombs.
Whats truly amazing is that these PackBots and Preda-
tors are merely the rst generationthe equivalent of the
Model T Ford or the Wright Brothers Flyer. One-third of the
Air Forces future planes will be unmanned, robots are mov-
ing into every Army brigade, and the Navy and Marine Corps
say the development of unmanned systems is one of their top
ve priorities. China, Britain, Iran, Pakistan, and 40 or so other
countries are building, buying, and using military robotics.
And the military is just one side of the story. The Department
of Homeland Security ies unmanned aircraft that patrol our
borders, and Japanese farmers use unmanned planes for crop-
dusting. Toyota plans to eventually automate all of its factories,
and a very lucky robot has drawn security duty at Victorias Se-
cret headquarters. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has described the
current state of robotics as being similar to where the computer
industry was in the mid-1970s. Ro-
botic devices, he said, are poised
to become a nearly ubiquitous
part of our day-to-day lives.
We already have cars that
parallel-park themselves and war-
planes that can be own by pilots
stationed 7,000 miles away. Cur-
rent prototypes of new products
include everything from robotic
snipers to robotic medics. They
range in scale from a giant 700-
ton robotic mining truck made
by Caterpillar to tiny spy robots
the size of insectsbugs within
bugs, so to speak.
But all this promise is also
part of the challenge. Outsourc-
ing to robots in both war and
business may raise efciency, but
it also leaves some humans out in
the cold and raises a host of concerns. From the ever-more-
intelligent machines that clean our oors to those that ght
our wars, robots are forcing us to ask an array of political,
military, business, legal, and ethical questions.
Despite their growing importance, robots remain locked in
the realm of science ction for most of us. Perhaps we need
to reshape our thinking. Rather than worrying about the ro-
botic revolution depicted in the movies, perhaps we should
pay more attention to the historic revolution in technology
that is profoundly changing our world. Peter W. Singer
Peter W. Singer, Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brook-
ings Institution, is author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and
Conict in the 21st Century (Penguin, 2009).
Used to uncover and disarm improvised explosive
devices, a Talon robot is put through its paces in Iraq.
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Reduce the danger they face.
Increase the danger they pose.
UNMANNED SYSTEMS
There are no assets more valuable than warfighters.
And there is no better way to both protect and
enhance them than with Northrop Grumman
Unmanned Systems. We have the resident expertise
to build common mission planning and operating
architectures to link and network our multiple
Unmanned Systems platforms in the air, on
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www.northropgrumman.com/ums
STORY CODE
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O
n Jan. 13, a day after a 7.0-magnitude
earthquake leveled huge sections of
Port-au-Prince, an RQ-4 Global Hawk on
its way from an Air Force base in Cali-
fornia to the Middle East was re-routed
to Haiti. In the days that followed, the
$30 million Northrop Grumman UAS
(unmanned aircraft system) supplied thousands of photos to
on-the-ground workers, who used the intelligence to assess
damages and pinpoint where food, medicine, and other re-
sources were needed.
Most of todays Global Hawkswhich can y at an alti-
tude of 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours and send back
critical reconnaissance to air, ground, and sea forcesare
focusing their imaging devices on al-Qaeda and Taliban
terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The four Global Hawks
currently deployed by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy
have own thousands of combat hours in the Middle East.
Sixteen of the 77 Global Hawk systems ordered by the Air
Force have been delivered.
Other sophisticated unmanned aircraft systemsincluding
General Atomics Predators and Reapers, which have increased
their missile strikes on terrorist strongholds in Pakistan follow-
ing the Dec. 30 suicide attack that killed seven CIA agents
are part of a growing arsenal. The roster includes Boeings
ScanEagle, NightEagle, and Integrator; AAI Corp.s Shadow;
and dozens of others. According to aerospace consultancy Teal
Group, worldwide spending on remotely piloted aircraft will
total $55 billion during the next 10 years.
That number constitutes the tip of the iceberg. From his post
as executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle
Systems International (AUVSI), Michael Toscano sees growth ev-
erywhere. The majority of unmanned systems started on the
air side, he says. Theyre getting the most press these days, but
our two other major domainsground and maritimeare also
experiencing dramatic growth.
No need to tell this to the Marines, who use PackBots made
by iRobot to nd and defuse IEDs (improvised explosive de-
vices) that line the roads of Iraq and Afghanistan. Northrop
Grummans family of UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles),
Robotics 2.0
A look at the newest generation of technology headed your way.
Northrop Grummans unmanned Global Hawk can y
at an altitude of 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours.
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named Remotec ANDROS F6A, HD-1, Mark V-A1, and Wolverine,
provide troops with the speed, dexterity, and payload capabili-
ties needed for heavy-duty EOD (explosive ordnance disposal)
work. Some 40 companies and organizations participated in last
falls Robotics Rodeo in Texas, where the emphasis was on ways
to help the Army safely move troops and equipment.
What we now think of as robotics traces its history back to
an actor named Reginald Denny, who sold radio-controlled
model aircraft out of a hobby shop he opened on Hollywood
Boulevard in 1934. The store became the Radioplane Company,
which turned a 1940 order for 53 model planes the Army used
for target practice into large-scale Army and Navy orders for
a product they designated the TDD-1 (Target Drone Denny-1).
In 1944, the newspapers carried a photo of a TDD-1 assembly-
line worker named Norma Jeane, who changed her name to
Marilyn Monroe and turned the publicity into a new career.
The robotics business took another step forward in 1990,
when two MIT grads and their professor set up a company in
a corporate park outside of Boston. Along with a brief ing
with robotic toys, the companythey named it iRobot
developed Fetch, a robot created in 1997 to sweep cluster
bombs off Air Force landing strips. Then came Roomba, a
robotic vacuum cleaner that does its thing on its own and
was brought to market in 2002.
SERIOUS BUSINESS
iRobot also builds Roombas military cousin PackBot, the
robot of choice for the detection of IEDs in Iraq and Afghani-
stan. About the size of a lawnmower, PackBot has tank-like
treads and an extendable arm with a claw-like gripper, and
can be outtted with sensors that enable it to detect explo-
sives and chemical warfare agents. iRobot passed the $1 billion
mark in total sales last year. Robotics is becoming a serious
business, says Joe Dyer, a former Navy test pilot and retired
vice admiral who heads iRobots government activities.
Boeing agrees. In September 2008, it completed the ac-
quisition of Insitu, a company it rst partnered with in 2002
on the development of the ScanEagle, an unmanned aircraft
that is currently used in multiple locations throughout the
world, logging more than 275,000 operational ight hours
for coalition forces. Using a pneumatic launcher that makes it
runway-independent, ScanEagle and its siblings, NightEagle
and Integrator, boast long-distance ight endurance and the
ability to capture high-resolution imagery, night and day.
AAI Corp., an operating unit of Textron Systems, has been in
robotics since 1983. In 1991, its Pioneer remotely piloted vehicle
systemswhich consisted of ve small unmanned aircraft and a
shipboard control station, launcher, and recovery systemwere
deployed in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm to target the
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On one occasion,
a group of
Iraqis actually
surrendered to one
of our aircraft. I
believe its the first
time human beings
ever surrendered
to a machine.
Steven Reid, AAI Corp.
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Insitus unmanned ScanEagle heads off
to work after a shipboard launch.
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16-inch guns on Navy battleships. On one occasion, recalls
Steven Reid, an AAI vice president, a group of Iraqis actually
surrendered to one of our aircraft. The ships captain sent in
land forces, and they took about 200 prisoners. I believe its the
rst time human beings ever surrendered to a machine.
The Pioneer has been succeeded by AAIs Shadow, a more
robust system that is upgraded on a regular basis. Originally
designed to y only 50 hours a month, Shadows now support
soldiers around the clock, and each new version gets bigger,
beeer, and more accomplished. So far, 92 of the 115 Shadow
systems ordered by the Army and Marine Corps have been
delivered, and two new systems are elded each month.
In December 2009, AAI partnered with the FAA in another
promising areaa proof-of-concept demonstration of how
unmanned aircraft can safely operate in commercial airspace.
This is a critical issue for the future, one that has industry and
government working overtime to develop technologies and
practices that will allow unmanned aircraft to see and avoid
other aircraft. While its still a long way off, success on this front
could lead to routine unmanned cargo and medical ights, crop
dusting, environmental monitoring, and much more.
Other parts of the home market are already bustling. A
Predator Bwhich can y for more than 20 hours at a time
took to the air off the Florida coast in January to help Border
Patrol agents spot smugglers. Liquid Robotics unmanned
Wave Gliderouttted with sensors and solar panels that en-
able it to move through the ocean propelled entirely by wave
energyis helping scientists study everything from climate
change to the mating habits of humpback whales.
iRobot recently sold its ve-millionth home robot. Surgeons
now perform delicate operations with robotically assisted
devices, and robots that allow doctors to examine and treat
patients in remote locations are on the drawing boards. Each
year we see more and more new developments and applica-
tions for unmanned systems technologies at our annual exhibi-
tion, says AUVSIs Toscano. From medical robots to precision
farming, unmanned systems are improving the quality of life
every day. Its amazing to think that this is just the beginning.
While its hard to make precise predictions, Gene Fraser,
sector vice president at Northrop Grumman Aerospace, also
likes what he sees. When the microprocessor rst arrived,
he says, it was a bit ungainly, a little awkward to use, and not
well-integrated into life. Ten years from now, unmanned sys-
tems of all types will be as highly integrated into all aspects of
life as the microprocessor is today.
To advertise in our Technology sections, contact Jordan Hyman at
212.522.8467. For reprints, call PARS at 212.221.9595, ext. 437.
From medical
robots to precision
farming, unmanned
systems are
improving the
quality of life every
day. Its amazing to
think this is just the
beginning.
Michael Toscano, AUVSI