DARPA sets it sights on shotgun-deployed camera network

DARPA's already dropped a chunk of cash on some tiny, camera-equipped scout robots, but it looks like the ever-funding agency isn't satisfied with its surveillance options just yet, with it now turning to a camera network that has a rather unique means of being deployed. As DefenseNews reports, the cameras developed by CDM Optics are capable of surviving terminal velocity drops, meaning they could be deployed from high-altitude aircraft or even fired from a shot gun. In the latter case, the cameras could apparently be affixed to a spike and fired at walls, forming an ad-hoc network to cover a particular area. While complete details on the cameras are obviously a bit light, they apparently have "surprisingly good performance" and are said to be "very cheap." While there's no word on further development of that particular system just yet, DARPA's larger ELASTIC program has reportedly netted some other results, including an "electronically steered imager array" developed by Toyon and JPL, which has now received some follow-on funding.

[Via Danger Room]

[Jared @ Sep 24th 2007 2:24PM]

I wouldn't be surprised if "very cheap" meant 100k per camera

[hp540 @ Sep 24th 2007 2:26PM]

beat me to it

[Jerome @ Sep 24th 2007 6:50PM]

HAHAHA!!

I was thinking the SAME thing!

"I got a 100k shotgun shell!"

[mattyp288 @ Sep 24th 2007 2:25PM]

This sounds eerily similar to the nanotech cameras in Michael Crichton's "Prey". When the cameras start flying, I'm out of here.

[jeff-gilbert @ Sep 24th 2007 2:25PM]

Camera that can be fired and sticks to a wall? Splinter Cell, anyone?

[debugy2k @ Sep 24th 2007 2:33PM]

yep...splinter cell...these darpa guys are ripping off tom clancy...lol

[Dan @ Sep 24th 2007 2:42PM]

After flying cameras come the man shredders!

[anonymous @ Sep 24th 2007 2:59PM]

the game might have had this idea in it, but until now, the capability for it to actually exist was non-existent.
Star Wars and all those space inhabited movies show thousands of things that are not possible today, but you can bet your life loving butt that someday alot of those things will be old news.

[TIMMAH! @ Sep 24th 2007 4:57PM]

Yeah, now they just need to put in some explosives and publish the camvid to the web. Then everyone in the country could just pick a cam they wanted to monitor. Put in a voting mechanism for the trigger and now you've got a new meaning to "You've been Dugg!"

[Twitchy @ Sep 24th 2007 5:24PM]

Cool - shooting someone in the ass is now not only violent, but x-rated!

[Bard @ Sep 24th 2007 9:25PM]

Ah... the beauty of the 12-Gauge standard!

It's amazing how a device that is essentially nearly 400+ years old (for current service use in it's current form) still proves to be amazingly versatile. I personally am surprised it took them THIS long to develop a camera mounting system using a 12-gauge shotgun. They've been using it as a launcher platform ever since the begining of the modern shotty with everything from non-lethal rounds, sonic echo-generators and even suppliment delivery systems (How else do you get a rabid elephant it's drugs. Not kidding...look it up).

This only goes to show that Grandpa's Winchester 1200 is still something I'd rather have in my kit than nearly all these "advanced" assualt rifle concepts that they're currently pumping millions into to try to gear them towards urban use.