There’s a great scene in the Cartoon Network original Star Wars Clone Wars series where Arc Troopers, pinned down and badly needing a fresher perspective, take a spherical probe droid camera and toss it high in the air. The camera gives the troopers a birds eye view of the entire city around them, spotting enemy positions and giving them great advantage when attacking. Well, someone must be a Star Wars geek because Uncle Sam and Remington Technologies have created the Eye Ball R1 Throwable Camera System.
It can’t float high in the year, yet, but this compact, lightweight, spherical camera is designed for high risk tactical situations for military and law enforcement to get a vital viewpoint of what’s going on where they can’t see.
Once deployed by a good, strong toss, the Eye Ball R1 can capture video up to 25 yards away and broadcast it wirelessly to their position to a personal display unit (PDU) at up to 200 yards from where it lands. Audio can also be broadcast as well. The PDU can view two Eye Ball R1s at the same time and in full color to it’s 6 1/2″ LCD screen.
And what else is cool, is that the Eye Ball is omni directional, rotating at 4 revolutions per minute to identify any potential targets and provide up to a 55 by 41 degree field of view. And if the camera lands upside down, the camera image can be flipped by the operator.
The Eye Ball R1 can operate for a maximum of 2 hours, while the PDU can run for 3 hours. But expect that to increase as the technology matures. And only Arc Troopers know if it’ll every fly.
Hat Tip – Defense Review