Russian "Marker": a promising weapon against saboteurs
The opening of the international military-technical forum "Army-2022" was not without novelties. Thus, for the first time at an event of this level, the Marker robotic complex, developed at the Android Technology Research and Production Association with the support of the Advanced Research Foundation, was presented. Previously, these organizations became known to the whole world thanks to the creation Robot Fedor, who flew to the ISS, so the interest in their new product turned out to be expectedly high. In this material, we will talk about the main features of the Marker, which have already been tested in the field.
Robot for the rear
Now you can often see newfangled statements that the army badly needs ground combat robotic systems capable of solving fire missions to defeat the enemy. However, the expediency of manufacturing these products, as well as the financial issue, usually fade into the background. But that's not the point. The rear is the place where robotics can be much more useful than on the front line. And an example of a promising use of unmanned vehicles can be the protection of strategically important large facilities, including infrastructure, bases, warehouses, and so on. Especially now, when sabotage of various scales follows one after another.
One of the areas of robotization of security activities, both in the frontline zone and in the deep rear, can be a patrol service, on which the security of a supervised facility largely depends.
One of the variants of the Marker tracked platform. Source: ferra.ru
Indeed, a palisade of video recording cameras and observation posts is not enough to protect the territory from the penetration of outsiders, and it doesn’t matter if local natives or saboteurs are eager for metal and other valuables. They do not appear out of nowhere in the immediate vicinity of the guarded point, so their detection often falls on the shoulders of patrols, which often act as rapid response teams. In this case, as a rule, the larger the perimeter, the more labor is required to protect it. As a result, an increase in staff and an increase in the load on security units.
To a large extent, the problem of protection concerns extended infrastructure facilities - railways and oil and gas pipelines. The fact of sabotage committed against them is fixed quite quickly, but preventing them is not a very simple task. It is simply impossible to solve it in other ways than regular patrolling. But this is complicated by objective reasons: a large length and hard-to-reach areas of the route.
Wheel version of the "Marker". Source: russian.rt.com
Based on the above circumstances, an image of a promising robotic patrol complex is emerging, which could perform two main functions: bypassing the territory, including hard-to-reach, along a given route and monitoring the area. This would help relieve security units by minimizing the use of human resources, as well as enhance their capabilities with the help of machine vision - thermal imagers and high-definition television cameras.
And it seems that the developers from "Android Technology" were able to implement these ideas in their project called "Marker".
Robotic complex "Marker"
The development of the "Marker" began in 2018, when the NPO "Android Technique" together with the Advanced Research Foundation announced the creation of a new multifunctional robotic complex, which will be strikingly different from existing models by the wide use of neural networks and great "independence" when choosing actions in one or another a different situation.
In general, of course, such epithets can be attributed to robotics for any purpose - minimizing human participation in machine control is useful everywhere, especially in the military sphere. Indeed, the novelty passed many tests with different equipment, where it showed high combat qualities. Its sighting system was even paired with a remote control device on the rifle scope. weapons - where the shooter pointed his machine gun, the barrel of the Marker machine gun turned there. In general, there were plenty of innovations.
A frame from the video demonstrating the synchronization of the Marker system with the target designator on small arms. Source: zen.yandex.ru
However, the most promising direction for the use of the "Marker" is protection. For this, the product was tested in the possessions of Roskosmos - in the territories adjacent to the Vostochny cosmodrome. Moreover, the Russian Railways and the National Guard almost immediately became interested in the novelty.
But why did he get so much attention?
It is logical to assume that in order to perform security functions, an unmanned vehicle must literally have a huge power reserve. The perimeters of large protected objects, as mentioned earlier, are very large, so charging or refueling a land drone after a couple of detours of the territory is not a particular pleasure.
To give greater autonomy, the developers from Android Technology used an original hybrid power plant in their product. Previously, some media claimed that it was based solely on an electric motor. In fact, the heart of the car is a diesel engine with extremely low fuel consumption, which does not exceed 3 liters per 100 km. It works in a combined mode with electric traction. This tandem gives the Marker a really impressive power reserve - about 60 hours of continuous movement without refueling. However, electric motors can also be used separately, but the battery charge in this case is enough for an hour of driving.
Tracked "Marker" with combat equipment. Source: zen.yandex.ru
A high cross-country chassis helps the robot to crawl through the most impassable places. It is carried out in two versions: three-axle wheeled and caterpillar. The choice of propeller depends on the conditions in which the machine will be used. Its equipment also affects, which will vary from optoelectronic modules with thermal imagers and television cameras, if the product is planned to be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, to machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, as well as optionally one or two UAVs. In this combat performance, the robot can perform not only a security function, but also conduct fire damage to enemy manpower, as well as light equipment. Although the arsenal does not end there, since the platform also provides for the installation of an anti-aircraft module with a radar to combat drones.
Nevertheless, despite the listed advantages of the Marker, its main feature lies in electronics. It was not in vain that it was said about neural networks and some independence of the robot. When it was created, engineers tried using machine learning - neural networks - to teach electronic brains as much as possible to detect and identify objects that fall into the field of view without human intervention. And this concerned not only such banality as not to let the "Marker" confuse a saboteur with a dog running past.
In fact, the learning process was more thorough. The electronics of the product was able to identify targets, prioritize them according to the level of danger, and even choose the most advantageous combat positions. However, the decision to open fire must be made by a person - the automatic choice of one or another action does not apply to this. In addition, neural networks help the robot to independently choose the route of movement by analyzing data from on-board video cameras, a thermal imager and lidars.
Wheel "Marker" is being tested in the area of the Vostochny cosmodrome. Source: m.tvzvezda.ru
As a result, "Marker" has become a completely autonomous system that does not require constant monitoring by the operator. It is enough for him to set the control points of the route, along which the car will move, avoiding obstacles. At the same time, the observation of the area also takes place automatically - in case of detection of danger, the electronics itself will notify the operator and provide him with a choice of actions, including the use of weapons. That is, the saying “a soldier is sleeping - the service is on” is fully realized: the robot itself rides for days, patrols, and if it finds someone, it will wake it up. Exaggerated, of course.
Prospects
In October 2021, the Marker was tested at the Vostochny cosmodrome, where its capabilities for independent movement in unfamiliar terrain, patrolling, detection and identification of intruders were studied in detail. In general, as confirmed by the developers and employees of Roskosmos, the results of running the machine were positive. In addition, experiments were carried out with the combat interaction of robots, which, acting as a group, automatically identified targets and gave them priority, distributing them among themselves for effective destruction.
In general, the product of Android Technology fully fits into the concept of a security robot, but its potential is not limited to this. The role of both a combat unit and a reconnaissance officer, or even a crawler, who, using neural networks, will be able to detect damage or malfunctions on railway tracks, pipelines, and so on, may well suit him.
But the main thing in this case, of course, is not the body, but the brains. The neural network system worked out on Marker can be applied on the same tanks and other combat vehicles, where it will automatically help the gunner and commander to find targets and prioritize them according to danger. Roskosmos' statements have become more ambitious, in which Marker electronics are presented as a promising direction for the production of smart spacecraft.
In general, the potential is really there. The main thing is that there would be money at least for a security option, and then you can think about space.
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