ReconRobotics, Inc. announced that it has been awarded the 2008 Innovation Award from Cygnus Law Enforcement Group, publisher of Law Enforcement Technology magazine.  The Award recognizes the company’s Recon Scout tactical reconnaissance robot, which is used by police and military personnel to get inside information about dangerous or hostile environments.  The Award was presented to Aimee Barmore, the western regional sales executive for ReconRobotics, at the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in San Diego on November 9.  More than 180 new police technologies were entered in the 2008 competition.  ReconRobotics won in the Tactical Category, which includes new products that are primarily used by police tactical and SWAT teams.

The Recon Scout is the only miniature reconnaissance robot in the world that is both throwable and mobile.  SWAT personnel throw the Recon Scout through a window or doorway, or over a wall, then use the handheld Operator Control Unit (OCU) to move the robot through the dark environment.  More than 100 police, security and military agencies worldwide use the Recon Scout for tactical reconnaissance in high-risk operations involving barricaded suspects, hostage rescues, room-clearing missions and narcotics raids.  The video that the robot transmits helps SWAT teams determine the location and number of suspects, the layout of rooms, and the number and locations of hostages.  Armed with this information, tactical teams can mitigate risks to their personnel and to hostages.  Among the police departments currently using the Recon Scout or Recon Scout IR are the police tactical teams in Bloomington, Burnsville and Plymouth, Minn.

The technology behind the Recon Scout was initially developed at the University of Minnesota Distributed Robotics Laboratory in Minneapolis, Minn., through grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  ReconRobotics, Inc.  was formed in 2006 to commercialize this technology.  In October 2008 the company introduced the Recon Scout IR, which is the same size as the standard model but also carries infrared optical systems capable of seeing in complete darkness.

About The Recon Scout

• Small: Its small size – just 7.4 inches and 1.2 lbs total weight – allows it to be carried in a pocket, on a vest or in a non-shooting hand for immediate access.
• Stealthy: A matte black finish that makes it extremely difficult to see, and it operates at a maximum of 20 decibels – far quieter than a whisper.
• Simple: To activate the Recon Scout, simply pull the pin, throw it into the environment and turn on the hand-held Operator Control Unit.  On the IR model infrared optical systems automatically turn on when the ambient light is low. 
• Durable: Constructed with a titanium shell, the Recon Scout can survive a horizontal throw of 120 feet and a vertical drop of 30 feet, and immediately transmit live video.
• Perceptive: Its black-and-white image sensor has a 60-degree field of view on both the horizontal and vertical axis, and it can transmit a 360-degree scan of a room in less than five seconds. 
• Powerful: The Recon Scout can transmit live video 300 feet outdoors, and 100 feet indoors – through walls, doors and windows. 
• Intuitive: The handheld OCU weighs just 1.7 lbs and has a 3.5-inch backlit video screen.  Users easily control the movement of the Recon Scout robot using a thumb-controlled joystick on the front of the OCU.

About ReconRobotics Inc.
ReconRobotics is based in Edina, Minn.  For additional information about ReconRobotics and its products, please visit http://www.reconrobotics.com or phone Alan Bignall at 1-866-697-6267.

Contact
Jack Klobucar
Added Value Inc.  for ReconRobotics
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