IoBT researchers Dr. Ananthram Swami and Dr. Brian Jalaian explain how their work with AI and deep neural networks is helping to solve the problem of adversarial network attacks for IoBT functionality. An article from Signal Magazine provides more information about how ARL is conducting research into adversarial machine learning and explores how the Army of the future is being developed by IoBT researchers now.
The Wall Street Journal published an interview with Dr. Alexander Kott, Chief Scientist of Army Research Labs (ARL) based on their “The Future of Everything” podcast. Dr. Kott is credited as the inventor of the term “Internet of Battlefield Things.” In the interview, he explains how the Internet of Battlefield Things has revolutionized ARL’s research agenda and cites some future directions for IoBT research for Army applications. He cites the development of AI as a turning point for warfare and explains the need for further exploration of AI in combat settings as an issue of trust for soldiers and researchers.
Paul Parker of C4irsnet.com argues that IoBT is revolutionizing how the U.S. Military is preparing for missions, through high-tech monitoring and sensor technology. He contends that all IT professionals should be following IoBT research with great interest as the field is evolving rapidly.
Professor Abdelzaher is interviewed about the interdisciplinary nature of IoBT for the IoT podcast by Mike Green. Dr. Adbelzaher and Mike discuss deep learning AI applications and how social media and other public modalities can provide IoT possibilities for future applications, including military applications. Dr. Abdelzaher explains how IoBT research is meeting unique mission goals through cutting-edge research.
Today’s battlefield is highly technical and dynamic. We are not only fighting people and weapons but also defending and attacking information at light speed. For mission success, the American warrior in the field and commanders up the chain need the support of highly adaptive systems that can quickly and securely establish reliable communications and deliver real-time intelligence anytime and anywhere.
“The internet of battlefield things will depend on modernized networks,” says C4ISRNet in an issue of Defense Network of Tomorrow. Military planners envision a future battlefield defined by the internet of things, one in which smart devices, soldier-worn sensors and unmanned aircraft produce a nonstop torrent of actionable data. In this near-future war space, “current, commonly available, interconnected ‘things’ will exist in the battlefield and be increasingly intelligent, obfuscated, and pervasive,” according to Army documents. The promised wellspring of new ISR data “requires connectivity and security,” said Mike Leff, vice president for global defense at AT&T Public Sector. “You need a robust network to give you that competitive advantage on the battlefield.” Military leaders back this assessment. Eager as they are to cull ISR data from an IoT-rich environment, they say they need a modernized network infrastructure to support that capability.
The internet of things, that loose assortment of tiny sensors now embedded in seemingly everything, can collectively do a lot. Each individual sensor isn’t capable of very much but when combined with billions of others, they can map human behavior, help to predict everything from shopping trends to the weather, and perform millions of other tasks, both mundane and critical. They are even making their way into heavily industrialized applications, and have also been hijacked and used for bad things, like the world’s largest botnet attack. But despite their seeming hegemony and limitless potential, there are a couple places where the tiny sensors have yet to gain much of a foothold. One of them is deep in the world’s oceans, and the other is on the frontlines of today’s modern battlefield. The armed forces want to change that, with the Navy working to develop its own flotilla of seafaring IoT vessels and the Army bringing the technology to battlefields.
“Internet of Intelligent Battle Things (IOBT) is the emerging reality of warfare,” as AI and machine learning advances, says Alexander Kott, chief of the Network Science Division of the US Army Research Laboratory. He envisions a future where physical robots are able to fly, crawl, walk, or ride into battle. The robots as small as insects can be used as sensors, and the ones as big as large vehicles can carry troops and supplies. There will also be “cyber robots,” basically autonomous programmes, used within computers and networks to protect communications, fact-check, relay information, and protect other electronic devices from enemy malware.
Even as developers are struggling with how to integrate the various pieces of the emerging internet of things, the federal government is investing millions for a five-year brainstorming project to explore how to develop and secure connected devices on the battlefield .
The Army Research Lab recently awarded $25 million to the Alliance for Internet of Battlefield Things Research on Evolving Intelligent Goal-driven Networks (IoBT REIGN) to develop new predictive battlefield analytics.
US-based company SRI International has announced that it is leading security research for the US Army Research Lab initiative to develop and secure the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT).
Known as the ‘Alliance for IoBT Research on Evolving Intelligent Goal-driven Networks (IoBT REIGN)’, the initiative received a funding of $25m from the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in October last year.
