The next time you’re trapped under a pile of rubble that used to be a building, wedged into a spider hole, don’t expect your local USAR team to pop their head in to find you. Instead, they’ll send in this.
The SearchCam 3000 is a telescoping, waterproof camera for locating victims trapped in collapsed buildings. Built on a lightweight anodised aluminium frame, the SC3000 camera head articulates up to 240 degrees and fits though any two-inch hole, while the extendible tube set extends from 14 inches to 6m. It can record either normal video or in infrared, peering as far as 20 feet into complete blackness, though a ring of LED lights at the tip illuminates dark and scary places quite effectively. It’s also equipped with a high-sensitivity microphone to detect hidden survivors. The head is even submersible up to 100 feet for water rescue operations. The system records up to three hours of video as well as still shots of the search.
Once a victim is located, rescuers can use the mic and a small speaker in the camera head for two-way communication. I’ve gotta say though, if I’m stuck in a pitch-black hole, seeing a bright light approach ahead of a disembodied voice telling me everything will be OK is not what I want to see.
[via Con-Space]
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