The New Natural Selection
The Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) of the US Department of Defense has announced a successful micro-drone demonstration that took place back in October. What makes this news particularly interesting is the animalistic, swarm-like behaviour that the drones exhibited, and the potential impact this may have on future regulation. The demonstration itself involved 103 Perdix drones, roughly 15 cm long, 450g and with a top speed of around 110kph. These drones were dropped from three fighter jets and fed instructions designed to mimic a surveillance operation. In doing so the drones demonstrated behaviour similar to swarms of insects, including collective decision-making, adaptive formation flying, and self-healing. The director of the SCO explained the behaviour of these Perdix drones in a statement: Perdix are not pre-programmed synchronized individuals, they are a collective organism, sharing one distributed brain for decision-making and adapting to each other like swarms in nature. Because every Perdix communicates and collaborates with every other Perdix, the swarm has no leader and can gracefully adapt to drones entering or exiting the team. In a recent speech at the “Drones as a Source for Jobs and Growth” conference in Warsaw, Dr. Chris Verhoeven of TU Delft Robotics Institute not only compared drone behaviour to that of animals, but claimed they are one and the same. Dr. Verhoeven made the case that robots form the next evolutionary step, and therefore can be reasonably considered animals. Mirroring animals, drones utilise a nervous system and muscle response, the only difference being that these are electronic instead of chemical. The swarm like technology displayed by the Perdix drones suggests that Dr. Verhoeven’s claims may not be far from the truth.
Dr. Verhoevens reimagined genus chart to include drones.
Moreover, by tapping into radio waves, drones arguably possess a more sophisticated communication system than any animals, humans included. This means that fully autonomous robots should be viewed as a smarter, stronger and telepathic species of animals, which therefore pose less of a threat to aircraft than birds. In fact, Dr. Verhoeven argues that removing humans from the control loop altogether is the best way in which to ensure that drones present no danger, relying instead on big data systems.
Replacing humans with data would bring dual advantages; not only would it remove the possibility of irresponsible and reckless drone use, but also the data systems would be able to fully integrate drone flight with general aviation. Dr. Verhoeven argues that the relationship between humans and drones should be the same as man’s relationship with dogs: whilst a master may command a dog, they cannot physically control the animal. And just like dogs, drones have the potential to do both harm and good.
Whilst the future of the Perdix drones will inevitably be military based, the successful testing of this type of learning drone provides insight into the potential of fully autonomous, intelligent unmanned vehicles. The Daily Mail biblically condemned the new swarm technology as locusts. Perhaps a better analogy, and one made in Dr. Verhoeven’s speech, is to a school of fish, which will separate to avoid an obstacle and reform when it is safe to do so. This type of behaviour will facilitate civilian application by vastly reducing the likelihood of mid-air collisions.
Charles Darwin is quoted as having said, “Intelligence is based on how efficient a species became at doing the things they need to survive”. Drone technology is certainly doing more than enough to prove its intelligence, trying to survive in a world dominated by general aviation. If it is successful in doing so, perhaps ethicists will be more useful than engineers in figuring out their place in society.
Stay tuned for more on smart drones and autonomous capabilities.
Perdix drones swarming around a set object and their piscine counterparts doing the same.
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