Drones controlled by artificial intelligence are now being talked about as something that is almost a common reality. They are becoming a bigger part of industry and battlefields, but it is still a more limited technology than that dealt with, for example, in academic research.
“There is still no solution that would be generally deployable for multiple tasks in different environments,” explains the head of the Multi-Robot Systems Group. According to him, the goal is robotics that can function without humans.
“I deliberately use the word flying robot to emphasize that we really don’t have pilots,” he explains to Czech Radio Plus. “We have artificial intelligence that controls the drone. Everything happens on board, where we have sensors and computers.”
Such robots have a wide range of applications not only in industry and defense – they can be deployed during natural disasters, they can be used to deliver things or supervise large industrial areas and complexes.
“We can develop and demonstrate the system, but now it is up to companies to turn it into a product that firefighters, water rescuers or mountain rescuers and many others can use in their daily work,” the researcher points out.
According to him, the European approach to adopting technology is more conservative than, for example, in China, where dozens of drones routinely cross the skies over big cities. The expert accepts the position of the Czech Civil Aviation Authority, which has not yet authorized anything like this.
“I think that the technology must be so advanced that we do not lose people's trust,” he explains. “We must be responsible and show them that the technology we are developing has already reached a level where I would let a drone fly over my children's heads.”
Defense and technology
“Find the person in the red shirt.” This is also how a simple instruction can sound today, which a drone can understand, evaluate and carry out on its own. Similarly, it can find a parked car, distinguish buildings and find its way around in a completely unfamiliar environment.
However, these robots are more successful in prepared conditions than on the battlefield. In the unpredictable environment of wars and battles, we will not encounter such technology, says Saska.
“Ukrainian researchers and scientists, although they were good at the beginning, started at an even lower bar than we did,” he points out. “And they require consumer goods that are cheap. Even our cheapest robot significantly exceeds their requirements.”
The Czech army also needs experts who understand what technologies are being developed in defense, and will not rely only on the offer of products from the catalog, advises the expert. A big topic in drone development today is, for example, flight in a swarm and the coordinated use of several flying robots.
“Now, when the military orders something with delivery in two years, they buy scrap that is not usable, because in two years it will be somewhere else. Now they should be buying something that does not exist yet,” he explains, and from the position of a researcher he also reflects on the possible misuse of technological progress.
“Anything that someone develops can be misused for bad purposes. We do not make weapons, we would never do that,” he concludes. “But we cannot prevent the possibility that we may contribute to the development of something that will have a negative impact and will be misused. That cannot be prevented.”