Express press service
NEW DELHI: India’s focus on disruptive new-age technology Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon lead forces to have not only robots doing sentries, but also the soldiers in the fields tasked with mines will have robots marking and warning of mines.
Even soldiers operating along the northern border will have an AI device to decipher Mandarin into English for them.
These three devices and 72 other devices and products such as Defense Minister Rajnath Singh launched 75 newly developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) products/technologies at the first-ever “AI in Defence” (AIDef) Symposium and Exhibition, held by the Ministry of Defence. Monday in New Delhi.
These included AI platform automation; Autonomous/unmanned/robotic systems; BlockChain-based automation; Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; cyber security; human behavior analysis; intelligent monitoring systems; Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems; Logistics and supply chain management, operational data analysis; manufacturing and maintenance; Simulators/test equipment and speech/voice analysis using natural language processing.
A CogKnit startup led by Anuroop Iyengar is preparing speech recognition and Mandarin Translator
“The device is offline and can recognize voices from a distance of 5 feet. This will be useful during border staff meetings and also in confrontations for better communication.”
Work is underway to bring the device’s current weight to 200g from 600g and to increase the effective range to 15ft and more, said
Coming to the autonomous robot that will work as a sentry, Major Paras Kanwar said that it can be placed on a metal rail and with its AI application, it will be able to recognize a person from a distance. “The device will challenge a person as it is able to tell the difference between friend and foe.”. It will retain data storage for future use and can be used over a distance of over five kilometers with wireless signals.
Major Kanwar is also part of an AI-based offensive weapon project where a device will locate, detect and shoot an enemy. These products have been promoted by the Army Design Bureau and will soon be mass-produced.
Three DPSU-developed AI products with dual-use applications and good market potential, namely AI-enabled voice transcription/analysis software developed by Bharat Electronics Limited; The driver fatigue monitoring system developed by Bharat Earth Movers Limited and the AI evaluation of welding defects in X-ray non-destructive testing developed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers were reviewed during the event. These products are expected to open up new business avenues for defense power supplies.
Speaking at the event, Rajnath Singh pointed out that AI has made inroads in almost every sector, including defence, health and medicine, agriculture, commerce and transportation. He called on all defense actors to strengthen the solidarity of human consciousness and the ability of AI to bring about step change in the sector.
“When there has been full human participation in wars, new autonomous weapons/systems have been developed using AI applications. They can destroy enemy establishments without human control. AI-enabled military devices are capable of efficiently processing large amounts of data. It is also very useful for training soldiers. In the coming times, augmented and virtual reality technologies will also be used effectively,” he said.
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