Robots learn by 'following the leader' -- GCN

Scientists at the Army Research Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute are teaching robots how to be better mission partners to soldiers -- starting with how to find their way with minimal human intervention. Given that autonomous vehicles have been navigating streets in many U.S. cities for over a year, that may seem like not that big a deal. But according to ARL researcher Maggie Wigness, the challenges facing military robots are much greater. Specifically, unlike the self-driving cars being developed by Google, Uber and others, military robots will be operating in complex environments that don't have the benefit of standardized markings like lanes, street signs, curbs and traffic lights. "Environments that we operate in are highly unstructured compared to [those for] self-driving cars," Wigness said.