We’re already familiar with ReconRobotic’s line of throwable surveillance robots, and they’ve just announced a new model, pictured above. Or rather, they’ve announced an entirely new capability for the little robot: it can now drive straight up vertical metal surfaces with the aid of some magical magnetic wheels, check it out:
Specifically, this capability is designed for anti-piracy operations, where pirates have already taken over a ship and you want to take a look around before sending people on board to take it back. Recon Scout can be placed on the hull of a ship, where it’ll drive straight up to the deck and send back live video, even in total darkness thanks to IR illuminators.
There’s also mention of a “novel marsupial-robot system” that “enables an operator of a large robot to automatically transport and deploy a smaller robot downrange using a customized, ejectable sabot.” While I’m picturing a robotic speedboat firing a Recon Scout out of some sort of cannon at the side of a ship several miles away, the reality is probably something a little more like this, where a large robot can carry and deploy a smaller robot using a little garage of sorts. In any case, I’m looking forward to a few more details on that, and who knows, maybe it is a cannon that fires robots out of it... A guy can dream, can’t he?
[ ReconRobotics ]