The newest member of the Plymouth Police Department's SWAT Team is 7 inches and weighs a little more than a pound. Swat team officers say you can't measure the member's value in size or weight.
"It goes into dangerous situations first," Swat Team Leader Sgt. Chris Kuklok said. Officers have spent part of the past month training with ReconScout.
"It's a throwable, tactical reconnaissance robot," Aimee Barmore of ReconRobotics said.
The wireless robot allows officers to see what they're about to encounter before they barrel into a building. An officer can control it with a joystick from more than 100 feet away and maneuver it by looking at a small TV screen. If the lights are out, the camera's infrared system kicks in.
"It's also capable of being thrown through windows," Kuklok said. "It's very durable, you can throw it from 30 feet in the air and it'll withstand that impact," Barmore added.
The roving unit is 7 inches long, flanked by 2 small tires. The camera is about the size of teardrop and there is a stabilizing tail that ensures that the camera, when thrown, always lands on its feet.
Officers say if they can get the camera in a house where a suspect is holed up, that suspect might not notice the device. "It's fairly quiet, not much more than a whisper," Sgt. Kuklok said.
"It can actually save your life if its going into a room first and there's someone in there or some type of dangerous environment," Kuklok added.
The "scout" was developed at the University of Minnesota and is now manufactured in St. Paul. Barmore says more and more police departments are buying the device. It is also used by crews conducting security sweeps and military combat teams.
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