Battlefield spy bot rolls with the punches

(Credit: Recon Robotics)

Maybe it was the influence of the Segway, but some spy bots apparently prefer to travel by two wheels. Earlier we saw the "Spy-Cye," for instance, which almost seemed to borrow its rather awkward design from the "Clocky" runaway alarm clock.

But as it turns out, the bi-wheeled surveillance robot seems to be something of a trend--even in the military. Developed according to Marine Corps specs, the remote-controlled "Recon Scout" is reinforced with titanium to withstand battlefield conditions and can "even be launched out of a mortar, or dropped from an unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle for a ground level point of view," according to Coolest-Gadgets.

The black-and-white camera takes only low-resolution images so it won't win any video awards, but that's obviously not the point. It's designed for portability, sending video wirelessly to its control unit up to 300 feet away, and has been sold for $6,500 to civilian law enforcement agencies as well. So if you see one of these "dumbells" rolling in your direction, don't think it's a toy; it probably means you should vacate the premises ASAP.