Arrr! Micro-bot climbs ships to spy on pirates

Piracy off the shores of Africa continues to be a serious problem, costing the shipping industry billions of dollars. Could robots help in the battle against pirates? ReconRobotics has teamed up with Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific to develop a concept robot that would be able to climb hulls and perform reconnaissance missions on ships seized by pirates. The micro-robot would be based on Recon's Throwbot platform, a rolling surveillance robot that can be tossed through a window, down a staircase, or into hazardous situations. It's used by military and law enforcement and can survive throws of 120 feet. The 1-pound ship-boarding bot would launch from a "marsupial robot deployment system," in which a larger robot would carry it to its deployment location.