Enhanced Communications for Airmens Situational Awareness and Safety Systems (360-Degree Throwable Tactical Cameras)

The Bounce Explorer is a “tactical throwable camera� that provides precisely the kind of situational awareness warfighters require to improve their safety and make the best possible decisions for their teams. The softball-sized device captures full-360 panoramic video and audio and transmits it in real-time. The video and audio data is transferred wirelessly to a receiving device. However, because the system was first designed for civilian users, it communicates over 802.11 WiFi and 4G cellular. While this is acceptable for some operational units, this presents a problem for many warfighers whose receiving devices lack WiFi and cellular capabilities, especially while deployed. This proposal addresses that gap by developing an alternative wireless communication method that allows warfighters to access this tool for critical situational awareness without needing to use WiFi or other methods not readily available to them. By replacing or adding an alternative wireless technology the aim is to make the wireless transmission more robust, reliable, and increase the range significantly. The primary objective is to add a wireless technology to the Bounce Explorer camera that will make the wireless system more robust, reliable, increases range, and is better suited to be integrated into existing Air Force communication channels.