FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- Anyone visiting Tompkins Basin near Castle Park in the last month may have gotten a first-hand look at how robots might be used on the battlefield during several robotics demonstrations.

"The Agile Robotics Project is a Research and Development project focused on developing an unmanned forklift that can operate and interact with people," said John Yates, U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency, Fort Belvoir.

Robotics capabilities can help Soldiers in both ground and air operations by providing Soldier protection within an asymmetric threat environment and extending operations, Yates said. They are currently being used to support ordnance disposal operations and surveillance.

"Robots don't get tired, reduce footprint, and improve safety," Yates said. The forklift was designed to focus on material handling, but, demonstrates the possibilities for the use of robotics in the future.

The forklift can navigate over uneven surfaces and avoid obstacles such as barriers, trucks and people.

"The operator is able to see what the robot "sees" using video images that are streamed through a wireless data link and, in turn, he or she can command the forklift to perform needed actions. Such as "pick up that pallet and bring it to the Alpha Bravo storage area," Yates said.

During the demonstration, pallets of inert ammunition supplies were indentified, and the forklift successfully engaged, lifted and moved them to and from flatbed trucks and between storage areas.

"You can summon the forklift to an area, instruct it to pick up, load or off load pallets, place pallets in specific areas, or to stop," Yates said.

In the future, the team would like to improve the reasoning capabilities to allow for more complex instructions such as "unload that truck and put everything where it belongs."

"We can also integrate with radio frequency tags to track the location of assets, ensure compatibility of items for storage, track shelf life, and make decisions that can optimize support processes based on prevailing business rules," Yates said.

The robot uses sensors to accomplish each task it is given.

"Light detection and ranging sensors are used to measure distance to objects in the world. This is the primary sensor used for agile robotics, since it is mature and relatively inexpensive. The sensors are used to create a three-dimensional view of the world," Yates said.

To ensure a safe working environment exists between the robotic forklift and humans, six separate levels of protection were established.

During the demonstration, safety features such as yelling "stop" were shown along with the forklift being able to identify people using the light detection and ranging sensors.

"We are also using lights on the robotic vehicle and speakers that provide visual and audio information relative to the robots' intended actions. The robot is also capable of manned operation," Yates said.

According to Yates, the project is unique because most robots work in a specific environment.

"Our focus is on working on the really difficult problem of bringing a robot into an unprepared human environment, having it quickly learn about the environment and safely operate in that environment under human supervision with minimal reliance on the global positioning system," Yates said.

"Within a few years, we believe the technology will be developed enough to allow for initial testing within an operational environment," Yates said.

Before to the demonstration, the forklift participated in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Urban Challenge.

"Vehicles navigated within an urban environment, obeying traffic laws and operating dynamically in concert with other unmanned vehicles. This is a really difficult problem and it was encouraging that we had such a successful demonstration at Fort Belvoir," Yates said.

"The capabilities being developed as part of this project can help shape how robots will interact with Soldiers in the future," Yates said. "With the rapid advances in technology, I am convinced the demonstration held at Fort Belvoir is an historic step which will help lay the groundwork for more widespread use of robotics technologies.

"We were very fortunate to have outstanding support from Fort Belvoir's Directorates of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; Public Works; and, Logistics. The Agile Robotics demonstration would not have been possible without their help," Yates said.