Tactical throwing camera

The idea of ​​creating a special throwing chamber originated in the head of Francisco Aguilar as early as 2010, after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti. Then he learned about the difficulties that search and rescue teams are facing when parsing debris and searching for victims under the rubble. The existing equipment on optical fiber is rather cumbersome and difficult to use, and also very expensive. At the same time, the idea of ​​creating a panoramic camera with several lenses, which would work in conjunction with a smartphone, has long been in the air, so the inventor and his team could only draw it in finished form, creating a tactical throwing camera, designated Explorer.

The device, designed to quickly assess the situation in dangerous places, turned out to be so demanded by the market that Camera Explorer was able to get top prizes at the MIT MassChallenge Competition in 2012 and MIT IDEAS Global Challenge in 2013. And the authors of this tactical throwing camera received for their invention 50 000 dollars.

Externally, the Explorer camera is an ordinary round ball-sized object used for softball. This ball is equipped with 6 lenses, evenly distributed over its surface and LED lights, the ball itself is sheathed with a thick layer of rubber. After activating the camera, all installed lenses take pictures of the surroundings several times per second. After that, the specially created software of the receiving device performs stitching of the received images into a single panoramic image of the investigated room.

To the surprise of the developers of the tactical throwing camera, the police quickly turned out to be its ardent admirers. When performing operations to detain criminals and terrorists, this device is very well suited for the rapid assessment of the situation. In order to cope with the received orders Aguilar together with his partners founded an enterprise called Bounce Imaging. It is this company that continues to work on the refinement and testing of cameras Explorer, which are tested in 20 police departments.

After the first demonstration of its new product in 2012, Bounce Imaging sent 100 throwing cameras to police departments located in various US states. Initially, the Boston company thought about the rescuers, special forces and the fighters of the rapid reaction forces, but police officers immediately became interested in their camera-gadget. The police quite often get into dangerous situations when they do not have a sufficiently clear idea of ​​the danger that may be waiting for them indoors. An Explorer camera, comparable in size to a grapefruit, is thrown into danger zones and quickly sends the resulting panoramic image to mobile devices that are running Android or iOS, providing owners of these devices with potential danger information. This tactical gadget is equipped with a single camera with 6 lenses. This configuration was chosen in order to reduce the cost of the device and give it a compact form. Since the device is not designed for a soft fit, its body was made of thick rubber.

After activating the camera, it produces several monochrome WVGA (800x480) images every second. The image data is processed using a processor created by engineers from the Costa Rican Institute of Technology, and then combined into one 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding space. It is the image matching technology used in the tactical camera that is the main innovation and the main feature of this project, notes Francisco Aguilar, CEO and Founder of Bounce Imaging. Unlike many other methods that allow you to form a panoramic image within a minute, their development copes with this task in just a split second, removing background noise and improving the quality of the output image.


Since it is impossible to guarantee that in every building where devices are used, there will be a reliable Wi-Fi connection, the camera has its own wireless access point. It was she who ensures the transfer of the image to the devices associated with the ball. The range of the Explorer camera is approximately 20 meters, and the rechargeable battery provides the ability to work for up to 30 minutes with LEDs operating. The scope of application of this camera-ball, of course, is not limited to security forces: the police and special forces. Developers are counting on the purely peaceful use of their devices. Over time, the company Bounce Imaging expects to add to the camera Explorer various sensors: air temperature, carbon monoxide concentration, radiation, etc.

Information sources:
http://gearmix.ru/archives/20760
http://vido.com.ua/article/12570/sfierichieskaia-mietatielnaia-kamiera-miach-dlia-politsii
http://neverfold.ru/showthread.php?t=72681

Comments

[corporal]

Wow! Are we already behind Costa Rica to train engineers?
Well, why can they and we .....

[31rus]

There is no need to be so categorical, we will learn, we will do it even better, here the question is different, from development to implementation, we may have decades, then no one needs it, then there is no money, then there is no capacity for production, but they will see exactly such western things right away " people know how, I think the created agency of "promising developments" will help in this, still branches would be opened and, if possible, throughout the CIS

[cormorant]

Here, it’s more likely not the backwardness of engineers, but simply a very good idea. Now we just have to do better, more reliable. And such a thing is definitely needed!

[Velikoruss]

corporal

Wow! Are we already behind Costa Rica to train engineers?
Well, why can they and we .....

Because earlier we started engineers massively(!) To educate young technicians in the homes of pioneers and stations. And now de bilov is being brought up en masse (I wonder why VO admins do not like this word? ;) with electronic brain prostheses and, which is typical, mainly of Chinese manufacture. In the system of supplementary education, the devil is engaged in what, in the main reports and indicators on methodological work, in addition to what they should be engaged in. From the past equipping of the houses of pioneers in their current incarnation - the TsVR (centers of extracurricular activities) there are only memories. Naturally, I'm not talking about the exemplary display (ear) body, for rich offspring, of course, paid.

[Mikhail3]

because earlier in our country engineers began to massively (!) educate young technicians in the homes of pioneers and stations.

Alas. Possessing the first pool of scientists and engineers on the planet (as many people as there were in the USSR, science was not employed either in the States or throughout Europe), we produced as many as 2, two! percent of real innovation in the world. That is, the entire scientific engineering colossus of the USSR was focused on the birth of a mouse. Moreover, the mouse was sick and half-dead ...
In Russia, the tradition is this - we can think of anything. But to produce ... And there is a specific reason for this. From time immemorial, people have had power and authority
uneducated and dense. Since ancient times, the authorities did not understand and were afraid of "smart people". Therefore, money, strength and power were not given to these incomprehensible and suspicious wise men any chance to make money on their inventions and discoveries. Result? We invented, made THEY. Well, THEY, in Europe and America, and collected all the profits and all the preferences!
And all this continues now. You should have seen what "state support" is, all these funds, laws and Skolkovo tricks! The only opportunity and the only channel for our ideas to go out now is to the West. This is all it is designed for. The same Skolkovo - if you are not a relative of the local leadership, then bring your developments, come on. You will be transferred to Silicon Valley, and even on TV they will show how great everything is with us - we took our ideas and our people to America.
The Chinese carefully stole my idea. We were convinced that I myself could not do anything and flooded affectionately. I bought a device not so long ago, laughed with the guys ... Now we are developing another thing. Although most likely, fate awaits her first. What engineers do you need, why ?! We didn’t rest anywhere! Thieves ...

[sub307]

"Explorer" ("conductor" in Russian) is really a very useful device for people whose professional activity involves actions in an environment that is dangerous to health and life (all kinds of law enforcement agencies, firefighters, etc.), because with the help of this the device has the ability to just quickly assess this very degree of danger for a quick decision.

[Pal2004]

Well thought up ..

[rero]

such a bond has long been applied in the Israeli special podrozdileniakh and pradaiotes for rubez tose, from the mid-2000 of their years approximately, it is called "eye bawl"

[rero]

2009 article in the photo "eye bawl" http://www.yehida.co.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=165:2009-08
-25-102714&catid=25:2009-05-05-02-03-01&Itemid=162

[Professor]

However, it was already.

Grenade "Bounce Imaging Explorer" for salvation

Spyware

[AndreyS]

And what is good in this system ?!
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has long been using more advanced systems, the so-called R1 mobile video surveillance systems with Eye Ball tracking sensors. All images in real time over the air, over a range of 150 meters on the street and 35 meters in the building, with the ability to listen to sound at the location of the sensor and output to a large monitor or computer image. Work up to 2,5 hours.
http://ohrana.ru/equipment/video/3061/
Somehow like this.

[corporal]

Quote: AndreyS

http://ohrana.ru/equipment/video/3061/Ну вот как то так.

Thanks for the info, but you won’t throw this device just like that, on the move, somewhere.

[Black]

Quote: Corporal

you won’t just throw it away, somewhere, somewhere.

yes ... here you must first roll!

[corporal]

Quote: Chen

yes ... here you must first roll!

Well, after the "roll", we will not throw something like that ..

[AndreyS]

"..But you can’t throw this device just like that... "I will surprise you a little, dear Corporal! You will throw this device as soon as possible, the armored ball weighs like a good grenade five hundred grams, the instructions say that the sensor can withstand a throw at a distance of 50 meters. Well, they did not throw at 50, but they threw 20-25, it seems intact and working.

[remy]

we have the same things. artisanal of course, but not yet skilled craftsmen.