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Thursday, June 21, 2018 • APG News B7 ROBOTS Frompage B1 •University of Pennsylvania •QinetiQ North America •Cal Tech/Jet Propulsion Lab Young said the laboratory is focused on transitioning new capabilities to industry partners so they can continue to mature them. "Since this is a basic and applied research program, we'll transition it to themso they cangetit intoan experimental prototype in development," he said. "Cer- tainly the problem that we are working on is very hard. It is difficult to operate robots in the wild, anywhere in the world, but that's the kind of problem the Army has to solve." The Army's vision is to make unmanned systemsan integral partof smallunitteams. "We're trying to go from tools to teammates so you can work side-by-side with them," Young said, continuing with, "In order for robots to be teammates, they must operate in unstructured, complex environments. "And then in order for the robots to be a useful teammate, they have to communi- cate naturally like a human does," Young U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY DAVID MCNALLY said. "We're doing a lot of work in Principal investigators and researchers from the Army's Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance meet at the University of Pennsylva- human-robot relationships, understanding nia in Philadelphia June 5-7, 2018, to coordinate efforts. concepts in the same way that humans do, trying to get the robots to understand those Directorate. "In the past eight years, execute military missions; readily adapt to "We've made a lot of progress in under- concepts in the same way so that the researchers have teamed with academia changing environments and scenarios; standing and developing new theory and teaming can occur more naturally." and industry supported by the Robotics learn from prior experience; share com- techniques for communicating between Over the eight years of the alliance, CTA to establish robotics technology criti- mon understanding with team members the robots and the humans. We must researchers have achieved many mile- cal to next generation Army objectives for •Human-Robot Interaction: Manipu- generate more novel techniques to be able stones in the robotics field. multi-domain operation." late objects with near-human dexterity and to address those types of problems." "New methods for robots to autono- The alliance conducts research in four maneuver through 3-D environments Researchers said the meetings in Phila- mously interact with and perceive the technical domains: •Dexterous Manipulation and Unique delphia were a valuable experience as they outside world have been developed to •Perception: Perceive and understand Mobility: Manipulate objects with near- continue to plan for a capstone event at improve reasoning, situational awareness, dynamic and unknown environments, in- human dexterity and maneuver through Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in 2019, trust and mobility in challenging battlefield cluding creation of a comprehensive model 3-D environments where they will demonstrate the culmina- environments," said Dr. Jaret Riddick, of the surrounding world "We've certainly come a long way, and tion of their research achievements to director of the lab's Vehicle Technology •Intelligence: Autonomously plan and yes, we have a long way to go," Young said. Army leaders. are used in the experiments, along with About half of the participants in experi- volunteers from local communities around ments at the center are Soldiers, Brunye NEURO Boston. said. Frompage B1 The volunteers feel just a tingling, itchy The neurostimulation is provided via a Cognitive Sciences in Medford, Massachu- sensation on their scalp during the neu- wireless device. Much was learned from setts. The center was created in 2015 rostimulation, he said. experiments that involved searching and through a partnership between the Army "In terms of long-term impact, there are clearing buildings over the last five months, and the School of Engineering at Tufts no known negative or adverse effects of he said. In these experiments, neurostimu- University. It is co-directed by NSRDEC's neurostimulation," he said. lation began about five minutes before a Cognitive Science and Applications Team Neurostimulation will help accelerate task and continued through the task, along with Tufts faculty. learning and can bring Soldiers up to a level Brunye said. The center includes what Brunye calls of high performance quickly. "It will The voltage varied from 7 to 18 volts, at "large virtual-reality caves." compensate for some of the variability we very low amperage (usually between1 and 2 Volunteers at the center receive low- see" during learning, Brunye said. milliamps). Direct current is the norm, but intensity electrical current through head- The effects of neurostimulation, howev- the lab is beginning to use alternating phone-style stimulation systems or elec- er, are less noticeable on those who are current to target more specific areas of the trodes mounted on what looks like a already high performers on a specific task, brain, he said. bathing cap. Then their performance in the he said. In fact, neurostimulation can virtual-reality environment is measured. sometimes have a slightly detrimental Special ops interest Neurostimulation has shown the following effect on high performers. Those individu- benefits: als already have a fine-tuned system for The Army's Special Operations commu- -- Increased ability to recognize sus- completing a task and neurostimulation nity is becoming more interested in neu- pected terrorists from a list of faces studied will help them wire a new neuron highway rostimulation, Brunye said. hours earlier during neurostimulation. for that task -- one that may not be initially Recently, Special Operations Command -- Improved navigation performance, U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY DAVID KAMM as effective, he explained. and the Defense Innovation Unit Experi- especially for individuals with lower spatial A volunteer from the 82nd Airborne Divi- mental, or DIUx, have been experimenting abilities. Soldiers in large-scale virtual sion wears a neurostimulation and brain- Innovative partnership with neurostimulation. They have been urban environments did better moving monitoring device while clearing an urban especially interested in developing motor between objectives during neurostimula- scene of enemy combatants in a virtual- The Army signed a five-year cooperative skills and new procedures with weapons tion. reality cave at the Center for Applied Brain agreement with the Tufts School of Engi- systems, Brunye said. -- Increased attention span. Attention and Cognitive Sciences, Tufts University, neering almost four years ago and estab- In addition to coordinating with RDE- might wane after 20 minutes when watch- Medford, Mass. lished the Center for Applied Brain and COM, the Natick team works closely with ing a security monitor and neurostimula- Cognitive Sciences. the Army's Training and Doctrine Com- tion could increase that attention span to ued. "But we need to be sure that any "It's a very unique reciprocal relation- mand on neurostimulation to enhance 20 hours. commercial claims are supported by rig- ship we have with the university," Brunye training, Brunye said. They also work -- Enhanced motor skills, such as the orous experimental science, and that the said. closely with the Air Force Research Labo- standing broad jump, when a particular systems are being used only in appropriate The university provided the physical ratory and have partnered with them on a area of the brain is stimulated during and beneficial ways. Our science and facility and infrastructure, such as the NATO exploratory team examining several practice. technology efforts are helping ensure that heating and cooling systems, networking, techniques for cognitive neuroenhance- "We want to make sure that we stimulate is the case." and computer hardware and software. ment. the right areas of the brain, at theright time, Tufts also provided personnel for manning Other government partners in research in the right individual, in a manner targeted the facilityand post-doctoral researchersto include the Intelligence Advanced Re- to specific tasks that we need them to excel Creating high performers help run it. search Projects Activity, the Army Re- on," Brunye said. Soldiers from a variety of military The Natick Soldier Research, Devel- search Lab's Human Research and Engi- "The consumer market is exploding with occupational specialties volunteer to come opment and Engineering Center -- part of neering Directorate and the Defense Ad- do-it-yourself brain stimulation devices to Natick immediately following their the Army's Research, Development and vanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA right now, and Soldiers are willing to try initial-entry training, Brunye said. They Engineering Command -- provided every- has been conducting related brain-stimula- just about anything to enhance theirmental serve about three months at Natick before thing else. The virtual reality programs all tion research called Targeted Neuroplastic- and physical performance," Brunye contin- moving on to their first unit. These Soldiers came from Natick. ity Training, or TNT. DID YOU KNOW? June is National Caribbean-American Heritage Month In June 2005, President George W. Bush, in response to a bill passed by Prince of Bel Air,” Ali was born in Congress, issued a Proclamation declaring the month of June to be National North Bellmore, New Yo rk. Her Caribbean American Heritage Month in recognition of the significant mother is Panamanian and her contributions