Watch the full episode above before or after your shift.
Drone light shows are incredible displays of art and technology. With hundreds–maybe thousands–of drones flying together, the mass of unmanned vehicles moving through the sky looks like a swarm. Looks can be deceiving, however.
Those drones aren’t really swarming. That distinction matters — especially as the U.S. military moves toward a future where one human could potentially oversee dozens or hundreds of unmanned systems. There’s a big difference between:
• Remote control — the human makes the decisions.
• Automation — the machine executes a predetermined sequence.
• Autonomy — the machine can make more decisions for itself.
• Swarming — machines sense, respond to, and adapt to one another.
Because the real challenge for autonomous systems isn’t following a perfect plan, it’s dealing with something that wasn’t in the plan.
A tree. A power line. Another aircraft. Electronic warfare. Smoke. Bad weather. Or an entirely unexpected threat.
That’s where autonomy gets interesting — and where the technology has to move beyond simply making a vehicle fly or drive itself.
In the latest episode of #MissionCritical, Ryan Robertson speaks with retired US Air Force Colonel George M Dougherty, PhD and Professor Brittany Duncan from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to find out what autonomy really means, why most drone light shows aren’t true swarms, and what this technology could mean for future military operations.