Throwable robots for U.S. Navy SEALs
The U.S. military has ordered 150 Recon Scout devices (at a cost of $9,000 each) for the special forces; the beer can-sized robot is equipped with infrared night sight video; the robot is tough enough to be thrown through a door or window, dropped down a chimney, etc. before being driven about to see what it can see
The short lived era of the throwable “camera grenade” may already be over. Instead, U.S. troops will soon see beer can-sized, hurlable robots with infrared night sight video. Tellingly, elite special-operations units have also decided to try the new kit out.
Lewis Page writes that that the gear in question is the Recon Scout minidroid from American firm Recon Robotics. The machine has an infrared see-in-the dark video system and can drive itself about very quietly on command from a remote human operator.
The Recon Scout’s is special because it is just 3 x 7 inches, about the size of a beer can — or only a bit bigger than a grenade. It is apparently tough enough to be thrown through a door or window, dropped down a chimney etc. before being driven about to see what it can see.
U.S. troops of the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team now deploying to southern Afghanistan already have Dragon’s Egg flingable weeble-ball cameras for similar purposes. These can’t move about once thrown, but do offer a 360° view.
Page notes that another choice in this area is the Dragon Runner droid from Qinetiq, with a lot more bells and whistles than the Recon Scout, but this is 16 inches long and weighs 14 pounds. Dragon Runner was developed from a US Marines requirement called “Throwbot”, but it is more like hammer-throwing than cricket. The recon Scout, by contrast, weighs just over a pound — about the same as a biggish can of beer. It would seem potentially a good bit more desirable than the Dragon’s Egg or similar chuckable-camera units, and a lot more portable than a Dragon Runner. The controller unit is also pleasingly handy, just walkie-talkie sized.
Recon Scout is not cheap. The U.S. Army ordered 150 of the devices in May for $1.35 million, putting each one at a cool $9,000 — though this price should drop as more machines are ordered.
In another sign of possible military trendiness, the famous yet top-secret U.S. Navy SEALs are also looking at the Recon Scout. Naval Special Warfare Group Two based at Little Creek, Virginia, ordered two droids and a control unit last week.
Page writes that it would seem that the days of the immobile flingable spyeye may already be over before they have even really begun. Except in the British Ministry of Defense, of course, whose proposed “I-Ball” toss-cam shows no sign of moving beyond basic development work.
