If something does happen, it will probably be military grade

Oct 7, 2014 14:21 GMT  ·  By

This week has been just as replete with news about robots as any other week, but some of the news was very specific and opened up certain possibilities that made me wonder if there will be anything conventional left in regards to warfare, twenty years from now.

All countries on Earth, at least the big ones, are in a constant competition to see who gets to invent the best and baddest toys capable of beating up and/or killing the other side. Bonus points for massive property damage potential.

It's called the arms race, and it's a really nasty side of current human society. It's also something that probably won't go away for centuries.

I have no doubt that most of the breakthroughs with military applications are being kept under wraps. Still, some really interesting ones have shown up recently, and they made me think that maybe the world is finally thinking outside the box.

Robotic patrol boats

Basically, they're nearly autonomous watercraft capable of escorting mother ships and / or attacking/harassing enemy vessels. The US intends for them to be deployed to sensitive / contested waters.

They aren't fully independent, but they are armed and can act as a unit thanks to having a single sailor in control of up to 20 ships at a time.

In essence, they're like terminators but in boat form, not humanoid. Sure, they might not be on the same level as a battleship, but they can definitely lay the smackdown on everything else. And a zerg rush can take down even the biggest boats eventually.

Basically, this concept of robotic warboats can change how sea battles are fought, since they are expendable and cheap to make.

Plant-inspired robots

This is another thing that was never tried before: a robot that has plant life as inspiration. Despite being just a concept prototype, Plantoid can use its roots to detect toxic or otherwise harmful items and compounds, and can even bend out of the way. Moreover, it can grow over time, or at least grow its roots further into the soil.

Now imagine this principle of sensor-based awareness and ability to basically morph and regenerate, and add it to one of those robotic boats. All it would take is for the ship to wade through a patch of seaweed and absorb the iron or whatever else and it would be able to recover from damage. Same thing if it got scuttled and reached the sea floor. It would find minerals there just fine.

The only thing lacking is a system that can power these things, as well as provide the ability to replace or rebuild damaged electronics in addition to the hull. And it seems that the solution already exists in embryonic form.

Graphene-based capacitors

This is what can allow the above to happen. Based on carbon, the most abundant substance in nature (at least for the purposes of this discussion), graphene can do anything and be used for pretty much everything. I actually said this before.

What's important today, though, is the graphene super-capacitor that can safely be used in electronics that bend and stretch.

Imagine, tentacle arms like Doctor Octopus' could be installed on those boats we mentioned before, as well as any exoskeleton and robot walker out there.

The huge potential of these three things combined

The bottom line is that humankind can totally change how battle is waged. It already has the means. Kind of a scary thought really, but as much as I'd love to say that flexible graphene-based robotic arms will only be used in, say, surgeries, it's clear that the military will probably get to implement a combination of the above concepts way before any civilian-intended application reaches the market.

What do you think technologies like this can help make? Exosuits with intelligent grapples usable in search and rescue ops? Robotic trees that can extend their roots into the soil and siphon out radioactive elements, thus healing the land? The fanciest means of harvesting seaweed?

I can't help but wonder if at least some of the ideas will be implemented, and if it will happen in my lifetime. Although knowing how some people's minds work, having a ready-to-use method of eliminating radioactive waste and radiation will just make nuclear bombing seem less daunting, and I doubt anyone wants that.