Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle Tested By Miami Police
The Miami-Dade Police department plans to evaluate the Honeywell ducted-fan Micro Air Vehicle for the next four to six months. The intent is to determine if MAVs can be useful in keeping the peace in urban environments.
(Honeywell MAV video)
The eighteen pound gas-powered device, which can remain in the air for almost an hour, has received an experimental airworthiness certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
As you can see in the video, the Honeywell MAV can hover and manuever in tight spaces, like alleyways and even inside enclosed spaces.
Science fiction fans may recall the floater camera from 1985 movie Runaway, written and directed by Michael Crichton.
Police can maneuver this floating MAV inside houses to take a closer look at a hostage situation; see the in-dash control screen for the floater camera. If the Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle becomes standard equipment for police forces, you can bet that control devices will be built into police cars.
The Honeywell MAV has been extensively tested in Iraq; see Micro Air Vehicle In Use In Iraq for more details about the MAV, as well as additional science fictional precursors for this kind of device.
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