Military robot in the context of "Military surgeon"

A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be constructed to evoke human form, but most robots are task-performing machines, designed with an emphasis on stark functionality, rather than expressive aesthetics.

Robots can be autonomous or semi-autonomous and range from humanoids such as Honda's Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (ASIMO) and TOSY's TOSY Ping Pong Playing Robot (TOPIO) to industrial robots, medical operating robots, patient assist robots, dog therapy robots, collectively programmed swarm robots, UAV drones such as General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and even microscopic nanorobots. By mimicking a lifelike appearance or automating movements, a robot may convey a sense of intelligence or thought of its own. Autonomous things are expected to proliferate in the future, with home robotics and the autonomous car as some of the main drivers.

The term military medicine has a number of potential connotations. It may mean:

• A medical specialty, specifically a branch of occupational medicine attending to the medical risks and needs (both preventive and interventional) of soldiers, sailors and other service members. This disparate arena has historically involved the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases (especially tropical diseases), and, in the 20th century, the ergonomics and health effects of operating military-specific machines and equipment such as submarines, tanks, helicopters and airplanes. Undersea and aviation medicine can be understood as subspecialties of military medicine, or in any case originated as such. Few countries certify or recognize "military medicine" as a formal speciality or subspeciality in its own right.
• The planning and practice of the surgical management of mass battlefield casualties and the logistical and administrative considerations of establishing and operating combat support hospitals. This involves military medical hierarchies, especially the organization of structured medical command and administrative systems that interact with and support deployed combat units. (See Battlefield medicine.)
• The administration and practice of health care for military service members and their dependents in non-deployed (peacetime) settings. This may (as in the United States) consist of a medical system paralleling all the medical specialties and sub-specialties that exist in the civilian sector. (See also Veterans Health Administration which serves U.S. veterans.)
• Medical research and development specifically bearing upon problems of military medical interest. Historically, this encompasses all of the medical advances emerging from medical research efforts directed at addressing the problems encountered by deployed military forces (e.g., vaccines or drugs for soldiers, medical evacuation systems, drinking water chlorination, etc.) many of which ultimately prove important beyond the purely military considerations that inspired them.

Short Circuit is a 1986 American science fiction comedy film directed by John Badham and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. The film centers on an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains a human-like artificial intelligence, prompting it to escape its facility to learn more about the world. It stars Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton, and G. W. Bailey; Tim Blaney is the voice of the robot Number 5.

Short Circuit was theatrically released in the United States and Canada on May 9, 1986, by Tri-Star Pictures. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film was a box office success, grossing $40.7 million against a $15 million budget. It earned three nominations, including Best Science Fiction Film, at the 14th Saturn Awards. The film's sequel, titled Short Circuit 2, was directed by Kenneth Johnson and was theatrically released on July 6, 1988.

BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped military robot platform that was created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), but the project was shelved after the BigDog's gas engine was deemed too loud for combat.

Autonomous things, abbreviated AuT, or the Internet of autonomous things, abbreviated as IoAT, is an emerging term for the technological developments that are expected to bring computers into the physical environment as autonomous entities without human direction, freely moving and interacting with humans and other objects.

Self-navigating drones are the first AuT technology in (limited) deployment. It is expected that the first mass-deployment of AuT technologies will be the autonomous car, generally expected to be available around 2020. Other currently expected AuT technologies include home robotics (e.g., machines that provide care for the elderly, infirm or young), and military robots (air, land or sea autonomous machines with information-collection or target-attack capabilities).

Drone warfare is a form of warfare that involves the deployment of military drones or military robots. The robots may be remote controlled by a pilot or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of robots include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned surface vehicles (USV) or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV).The applications of UAVs, UGVs, USVs, and UUVs are diverse, ranging from reconnaissance, kamikaze missions, bomb disposal, cargo transport, and medical evacuation to anti-air, anti-armor, and anti-personnel role. As of 2019, the following nations have been identified as having operational UCAVs: China, France, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

Drones find application in a variety of military operations, including electronic warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, training and logistics support. However, they are most frequently employed in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions, enabling direct attacks on targets as part of a kill chain or through manned-unmanned teaming. Aerial drone attacks can be executed through the use of purpose-built UCAVs, that deploy ordnance during a drone strike, or by weaponized commercial UAVs that drop munitions or engage aerial assault. Heavy-lift drones may also be used to airlift supplies or evacuation of wounded personnel across a battlefield. Smaller drones, such as SUAVs and MAVs, are man-portable and can be deployed for low-altitude, short-range support operations. Larger drones can serve a "mothership" role by deploying smaller, sub-drones or by being equipped with electronic warfare features such as a signal repeater. Multiple drones can operate and attack simultaneously in a drone swarm and autonomous drones, such as LAWs, utilize military AI.