Throwing Cameras

What to know what is going on around the corner? Then you can use a "throwing camera". This is a weighted ball containing a video camera, a motor and a radio transmitter. You throw the ball into a room and it rights itself so the camera points horizontally. The motor then rotates the camera so that it takes a panorama of the room and transmits the picture back to you.

These units seem to be little more than a low cost security camera, motor and an analog radio transmitter. Something better could be built from a web camera and WiFi digital transmitter, but perhaps not at a throwaway price.

These are made for the military and for law enforcement by MACROSWISS (Short Range Throwing Camera) and the Remington (i Eye Ball R1):

The Short Range Throwing Camera (SRTC) is a hand-thrown remote observation system and has been designed to continuously broadcast a panoramic view of the surrounding area to a remote receiver.

This product is able to sustain the impact when thrown or launched from a significant distance. ...

The unit is roughly the shape of a ball and is split into two halves. When deployed the top half rotates with respect to the base.

The bottom of the unit is flat. The weight of the unit has been specifically distributed so that it will automatically right itself so that the flat base is on the ground, regardless of the starting position.

The upper part of the unit contains a camera and a motor. When turned on, the motor causes the upper part of the SRTC to rotate, giving the camera a panoramic view of the surrounding area. A micro-transmitter then broadcasts the video signal up to 300m.

TECHNICAL DATA
- Size: Sphere diameter 100 mm
- Weight (with battery): 430 g
- Power supply: 1 x 9V standard battery, type HR22 non-rechargeable
- Power consumption: 110 mA (indicative: depends on the motor load)
- Battery life: 2-5 hours (indicative: depends on the kind of battery in
use and on the motor load)
- Rotation speed: Approximately 12 rpm

CMOS PINHOLE CAMERA
- Black & White (Color on demand)
- Video system: PAL (NTSC on demand)
- Effective Pixels: 628X582 (PAL) / 510X492 (NTSC)
- Electronic shutter: 1/60 - 1/15000
- Minimum Illumination: 0,3 Lux @ F1.2
- S/N ratio: >48 dB
- Pinhole lens: 5,6mm / F2.0 (P-type)
- Lens angle: 5,6mm / 60 deg
- Working temperature: -10 °C, +45 °C
- 2,4 GHz VIDEO TRANSMITTER
- Channel: One channel in the 2.4 GHz frequency band
- RF output power: EC R&TTE compliant
- Transmission range: 300 m (line of sight)
- Antenna: Omni-directional antenna

From: Short Range Throwing Camera (SRTC), MACROSWISS S.A.

Remington’s Eye Ball R1 is a compact wireless 360° mobile display system, designed to be used in tactical operations where law enforcement personnel need to see the situation before entering a building, floor or room. The Eye Ball R1 is rugged allowing officers to roll, toss, lower or throw it as applications demand:

• Entry Teams
• Search & Rescue
• Surveillance Operations
• Ceiling & Attic Investigation
• Corner, Stairwell & Hallway Clearing

The Eye Ball R1 transmits streaming video and audio to a Personal Display Unit (PDU). ...

From: Remington’s Eye Ball R1, Remington Arms Company