THE CURRENT STATE OF ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY IS FAR FROM THE GOALOF AUTOMATED INTELLIGENT BEINGS.

THE CURRENT STATE OF ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY IS FAR FROM THE GOALOF AUTOMATED INTELLIGENT BEINGS. IN THE INDUSTRIAL SCENARIO WHERE MUCH OF THE CURRENT ROBOT DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN APPLIEDMOST ROBOTS ARE LITTLE MORE THAN ADVANCED NUMERICAL MACHINES. LIMITED FEEDBACK SENSING AND CONTROL HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED A A MAJOR LIMITATION OF CURRENT ROBOT TECHNOLOGY.AUTOMATED OR SEMI-AUTOMATED CASUALTY ASSISTANCE AND RETRIEVAL ON THE BATTLEFIELD WILL REQUIRE SYSTEMS HAVING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WHICH CAN MEASURE AND REACT TO A NUMBER OF STIMULI OF VARYING MAGNITUDE. ONE APPROACH IS TO SUBDIVIDE THE PROBLEM INTO TWO SYSTEMS. THE FIRST SYSTEM IS A BATTLEFIELD RANGING DEVICE USED TO LOCATE, IDENTIFY AND TRANSMIT TO HUMAN BODIES. THE SECOND SYSTEM OPERATES AT CLOSE RANGE USING A NUMBER OF VITAL SIGN SENSORS TO DIAGNOSEAND TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A PROJECT TO RESEARCH A SYSTEM OF THE SECOND TYPE. A NOVEL SOFT END-EFFECTOR SYSTEM (SEES) IS PROPOSED WHICH OPERATES FROM A JOINED MANIPULATOR ARM AND CONTAINS AN EXTREMELY CLOSE PROXIMITY AND UPON CONTACT, ARMS, HEAD. ETC. ARE PERCEIVED AND PULSE, TEMPERATURE AND OTHER VITAL SIGNS MONITORED. PREDETERMINED (PROGRAMMED) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS CANBE MADE WITH PHYSICAL CAPABILITY OF A DEVELOPED SYSTEM.