The Firefly reconnaissance rifle-mounted ballistic camera
By Barb Dybwad 
posted August 3rd 2005 7:28AM
posted August 3rd 2005 7:28AM
The Firefly solves that nagging battlefield problem of needing a quick look over the next hill, by deploying a disposable ballistic camera from a standard-issue, rifled-mounted grenade launcher. There's no special training required; soldiers just fire off the grenade-sized reconaissance device and wait about 8 seconds for the photos to come back to a carried pocket computer. Of course, you won't exactly be able to pick one of these things up at Target or anything, but maybe some toy company will see the value in commercializing a safe, nerfball-mounted ballistic camera for the kiddies. We'd so be there.
lol im sure it wont get doubled up as a standerd issue nerf ball :P
lol im sure it wont get doubled up as a standerd issue nerf ball :P
Maybe you cant 'pick one up at target' but it could pick you up as a target!! ;-)
Hehe, you can also throw any digicam with a time release and attach a note requesting the camera back!
They sell these things at wal-mart that do that, but they use solid fuel rockets and a normal disposable still camera. I can't imagine the quality is that great, and you have to recover the camera and spend time developing pictures, but the idea is mostly the same.
Maybe someone will find a way to send up one of those mini-digicams in one of those model rocket egg launchers you probably played with in high school physics class.
cheeze:
http://holden.customer.netspace.net.au/rocketcam.html
Used to build model rockets all the time. But back then the tech wasnt nearly good/cheap enoungh to do at home as a 12-year-old.
Just drop a 500lb dumb bomb on the other side of the hill and be sure there's nothing there. Besides it makes a nice hole for you and your buddies to hide in for that inevitable "next" hill you have to take.
surely they are better off using real time footage from their drone planes and satellite feeds... like they do now....
now what would be funky would be a robotic chicken with a camera for a head that could run into a building and see what's up. then explode if needs be.
that'd confuse them - "hey, what's that chicken doing in here... wait is that a camera? oh bollocks"
Of course using realtime footage from the current generation of drones means the buzzing noise from the drone propellers (which I'm fairly sure that now most enemies a good half mile away can figure means that troops are coming through soon). Also consider that, satellite imagine is only so good and it lags a bit. Also, said 500 lb dumb-bombs with said airstrikes are infinitely less tactical (pulverized and dead enemies can't give you much information on future targets). Anyway, this could be good for Spec Ops (this device kind of reminds me of a non-sticky version of Sam Fisher's sticky cam). Put in an IR camera and you've got a pretty nice device for night missions.
Sam Fisher would be proud...