Domestic Armed Robot Dog Alleged ‘Stolen’ Becomes the Agenda

SAHA EXPO 2022 Defense Aerospace Industry Fair, which started on October 25, also featured new products developed by Sarsılmaz. One of these products Robot weapon named ‘Sarbot’ It created an interesting discussion.

The new robot of Sarsılmaz, a weapon manufacturer, actually came to the fore with the company’s new domestic weapon technology. However, the robot body on which the gun is placed is in Ekşi Sözlük. ‘not native’ became the agenda with the claim.

The topic that is on the agenda in Ekşi Sözlük:

Comparison of the Chinese robot and Sarsılmaz’s new robot:

• Left: Sarsılmaz ‘Sarbot’, Right: A1 robot model manufactured by Chinese Unitree.

So what was the real deal? Let’s look at the statement from the company first:

Sarsılmaz Arms Industry Deputy General Manager Öner Özyıldızused the following statements in the introduction of the robot:

“We are introducing ‘Sarbot’ with Sarsılmaz’s 2023 vision. Sarbot is a robot produced for the future concept of unmanned warfare. We can mount any caliber gun on it. Or we can make versions that can carry ammunition for the use of our army.

Here, we would like to express the vision of the unshakable, which started with hunting and sports rifles, then evolved into guns, then evolved into infantry rifles, and now evolved into a robotic system. I hope we will give these systems to our army with our local national engineers. We have been working on the concept for about a year.

Our engineer friends continue to work on the electromechanical software of the system both in Ankara and Istanbul. This is our first prototype. First in Turkey. In the background, much more powerful ones began to be produced.

We still have 1 hour of movement life. But as battery technology develops, or with a different supply system other than battery electricity, we will make a version that can carry a much heavier load with a generator. It can carry out its duty in any weather condition where it can carry its own weight.”

The statements made by Sarsılmaz during the announcement of the robot are not sufficient to confirm or deny the allegations. The explanations are that the robot forming the body It does not contain any statement about its locality. The company focuses more on the weapon used, the software developed and its use. Therefore, Sarsılmaz may have imported the infrastructure of the robot and turned it into a new product with the weapons and software it developed. So, does that mean ‘plagiarism’? If that’s true, no.

It is common for companies to use infrastructure developed by different companies to add new technologies to serve a new function and purpose. For example, we can show that Mercedes uses Renault engines in some models. If the two companies are doing this technology transfer as a partnership, it’s not a scam. strategic cooperation. However, Sarsılmaz may have made a patent agreement with the company in question and produced the robot in question with ‘domestic resources’. Moreover, Öner Özyıldız, Deputy General Manager of Sarsılmaz Arms Industry, uses the phrase “We are localizing these weapons” in the last part of his statement. Another possibility is that the design similarity between the two robots is just a coincidence.