ReconRobotics的SkyScout無人機

????明尼蘇達(dá)州的ReconRobotics公司之所以在軍火界享有盛名，主要是因為它生產(chǎn)的物美價廉的拋式機器人產(chǎn)品。這種機器人只有一個啤酒罐大小，可由警察或軍隊人員隔著墻或窗戶扔進他們想要進入的地方。拋式機器人身上的小型攝像機可以把影像傳輸?shù)讲僮魅藛T的手持式控制器里。今年的AUVSI展會上，這家公司推出了一種導(dǎo)線式的四旋翼無人直升機SkyScout，它可以非常簡單有效地執(zhí)行一些有限的任務(wù)。

????如前文所述，續(xù)航時間一直是困擾小型無人機的一個大問題。SkyScout用了一個土辦法攻克了這個問題——通過一根長長的電線，把這架無人機與地面上的電源連起來。它幾乎可以無限地旋停在我們頭頂，但缺點就是它的橫向移動能力有限。但對于很多執(zhí)法任務(wù)和軍事任務(wù)來說，地面操作人員需要一個持續(xù)的“制高點”來提供居高臨下的視野，比如持續(xù)觀察人質(zhì)的情況，或是加強對前沿陣地的警戒。SkyScout的最高飛行高度是100英尺（約30米），然后便可旋停在那里，提供360度的鳥瞰視野。

????和今年AUVSI展會上的其它先進無人機系統(tǒng)相比，它的技術(shù)似乎非常簡單。但是軍隊和執(zhí)法部門都知道，在大多數(shù)危險的環(huán)境下，簡單可靠才是王道。因此美國和英國的使館安保人員都在Recon公司的展臺前駐足，似乎對這款產(chǎn)品怦然心動。

ReconRobotics' SkyScout

????Minnesota-based ReconRobotics made its name in the defense world through its "Throwbot" products, a line of beer-can-sized wheeled robots that police or military personnel can hurl over a wall, through a window, or anywhere else they're needed. Tiny cameras beam video back to the robots' handheld controllers. At AUVSI 2013, the company debuted its Recon SkyScout, a tethered quadrotor that executes a limited mission profile extremely simply and well.

????The problem with small UAS, as mentioned previously, is largely one of endurance. SkyScout overcomes this by simply tethering to the ground via a long, thin wire that connects the aircraft in the sky to a power source on the ground. It can stay overhead indefinitely, but tethered aircraft are limited in their lateral movement. But for many law enforcement and military missions, operators on the ground need persistent overhead situational awareness -- a constant view from overhead. Whether surveilling an ongoing hostage situation or augmenting forward operating base security, SkyScout is designed to fly up to 100 feet above the operator and then stay there, providing 360 degrees of birds-eye view.

????It might sound simplistic next some of the more sophisticated robots on display at AUVSI, but the defense and law enforcement communities know that reliability and simplicity trump complexity in most dangerous situations. Embassy security personnel from both the U.S. and the U.K. were spotted at Recon's AUVSI booth, eyebrows raised.