The U.S. Marine Corps is currently testing a robot ball that it believes will come in handy as an amphibious scout drone.
GuardBot, named after the research team in Stanford, Conn. that created it, was not originally designed to look out for human soldiers, but to assist astronauts in space exploration on Mars, according to Popular Science.
The machine comes in the form of a large black tire with a clear dome on each side, giving it the appearance of two-sided eyeball. The domes' cameras allow the robot to look in completely opposite directions at the same time, and an included laser telescope gives the machine the ability to detect chemicals used to make explosives from two inches away.
GuardBot designed the robot to travel in different environments, such as water, snow, sand and pavement, Yahoo Autos reported. Users can program the bot to patrol a set route or hold a perimeter. Other capabilities include detecting radiation and collecting sonar data and other sensor communications.
The machine can currently only travel at speeds of 6 miles per hour (mph) on land and 3 mph on water, but its battery allows it to operate continuously for up to eight hours on a single charge.
GuardBot founder Peter Muhlrad said the robot can be produced in different sizes, and the company is looking to build a prototype measuring 6 feet, the New York Daily News reported. He added that GuardBot wants to add geographic information system data to the bot so it can travel long distances by itself.
"Depending on if we get funding, we could develop that in 8 to 10 months," Muhlrad said.
