'Throwable' drone that climbs stairs and picks up body heat sent to help at collapsed Florida condo

As rescue teams continue to search for survivors amid the rubble of the collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida, they have increasingly high-tech tools at their disposal. Massachusetts-based robotics company Teledyne Flir sent the Miami-Dade Fire Department the Flir FirstLook, a rugged but lightweight drone that'investigates dangerous and hazardous material while keeping its operator out of harm's way.' Unlike human responders, FirstLook doesn't have to worry about smoke inhalation, can reach into cramped areas, and won't risk destabilizing the structure further. 'In a collapse situation like this, the pile is structurally unsound and constantly vulnerable to shifting,' Teledyne Flir vice president Tom Frost told The Washington Post. 'It's much safer to have a robot crawl deeper into a void than to have a person crawling into that void,' Frost said. About the size of a brick, FirstLook can even be thrown from a distance--if it lands upside down, it has the capability to right itself.