In a sign that all warfare is becoming more and more taken over by robots and autonomous vehicles, the US Navy just demonstrated that it can accompany its ships with autonomous vehicles. These robot boats, would protect the main ship, which is of high value and containing soldiers. It would also swarm an enemy boat, deflect or destroy it. Making vehicles autonomous has been an ongoing major research and development task since over a decade in the field of robotics. This represents not only an application of autonomous navigation systems, but also a real life application of swarm robot concepts.

Video & Featured Photo Credit: US Office of Naval Research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITTvgkO2Xw4

  autonomous, autonomous boats, navy, sea, swarm