U.S. Army  is drafting up a white paper designed to take up and clarify emerging complexities surrounding the development of autonomous robot technologies, service leaders said at the Association of the United States Army Winter 2009 Convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.

  The idea for the paper, which will be finished in the coming weeks, is to establish a set of guidelines and principles central to the use of autonomous robots.

 ”This is a concept paper to think about warfighting outcomes and what robotics will do for soldiers. It will be guiding principles. We might someday we come up with IT doctrine and robot doctrine. I am starting out with the idea of having an technology-enabled human,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, who directs the Army Capabilities Integration Center, Fort Monroe, Va.

   Computer algorithms are advancing to the point where prototype robots such as the Army’s Multi-Utility Logistics Equipment (MULE) vehicle are able to cross barriers and navigate obstacles without human intervention. The MULE, slated for 2015, will eventually carry Javelin Anti-Tank missiles and M240 machine guns.

    Part of the aim of the paper is to establish parameters so as to make sure there will always be a human-in-the-loop when it comes to deciding to fire on a target, Vane said.

“We want to make the people or humans under command and control in a ‘whole of government’ approach,” he said.