Rugged Recon Scout invades enemy camp, snags video

by Darren Murph posted May 11th 2007 at 7:04AM

Heading into the enemy's camp isn't something that Marines take lightly, and rather than finding out which private has the most experience in Call of Duty and shuffling him / her in, they're letting a robot do a soldier's job. Developed by the University of Minnesota using funding from DARPA, the Recon Scout resembles your average barbell weight, but when you're not workin' those triceps, this little fellow can be heaved across flatlands, over fences, and into brick walls in order to secure a location and start feeding back video of its surroundings. The two-wheeled bot is equipped with a low-resolution monochrome camera that feeds images back to the Operator Control Unit, and since it weighs just a single pound and fits in most cargo pockets, the whole platoon could carry their own in order to really scope out the next bend. Of course, the current iteration will only broadcast video up to 250 feet, and onlookers at a recent demonstration weren't thrilled by its quickness, but a titanium-based wheeled spying machine is fairly impressive regardless. Reportedly, the Recon Scout has been sold to "law enforcement agencies" for around $6,500 apiece, but we've no idea how much this rugged inspector will run the general public.

[Via Wired]

Filed under: Robots

Tags: army, battle, battlefield, darpa, military, recon scout, ReconScout, spy, spying, surveillance, war

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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humpty @ May 11th 2007 7:07AM

Where's the "Keepin' it really fake" headline.. its clearly an iPod nano rip off.

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Joe Smith @ May 11th 2007 7:16AM

Dumb fanboy, it's CLEARLY NOT an iPod ripoff. Look at those wifi antennas at the top of it! The iPod doesn't have wifi.

Neutral

humpty @ May 11th 2007 7:36AM

^ Dood, i was being sarcastic..

GO SENS GO!

Highly Ranked

enzo @ May 11th 2007 8:07AM

Let's hope this doesn't get into the hands of questionable geek squad employees...

Neutral

Eric @ May 11th 2007 9:02AM

Because everyone needs Rhf dumb-bells.

Neutral

Hansofchoy @ May 11th 2007 9:38AM

That's great... as long as the enemy paved a trail for you to sneak in on, meticulously cleared all sand and any rocks larger than half an inch tall, and then negleged to post guards! You won't be sneaking into any enemy camp with this any time soon. Based on the mobility of the design it looks like it is intended to be an indoor recon robot only. Even then, you are screwed if the enemy goes upstairs.

Neutral

tiuk @ May 11th 2007 10:16AM

Probably worth a couple hundred dollars at most. Some law enforcement agencies use "pepperball" guns for riot control. These are essentially paintball markers (actually, that's exactly what they are) that shoot gelatin balls filled with pepper spray (or something similar). Official "pepperball" guns cost thousands, whereas you can get the same marker from your local paintball field for ~$100. As soon as something is labeled as law enforcement equipment the price skyrockets.

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