Could a bullet camera work?

I had this crazy idea the other day, but I don't know if it could ever work?

Could you build a tiny wireless camera that could be mounted to a bullet and fired without breaking?

My idea is that you could have compter software that could capture the video and slow it down for intel purposes. If you wanted to see what was over a hill you could fire a camera round over it and take a peak. I know that they have spy sats and what not but this idea would be for quick, live and cheap intel on the spot.

So could it ever work?

If you wanted to see what was over a hill you could fire a camera round over it and take a peak.

Or you could just poke your head over the hill and take a peek. Honestly I think a bullet would be moving too fast to get a decent picture. I also dont think a camera would be able to survive the forces placed on it. Also the lens would probably be too coated by gunshot residue to be functional.

i prefer that a bullet camara is wen it heads towards intended target the video would capture who we are about to kill. kinda like a smart bomb or cruise missile head towards its target. after that we can slow mo the captured video image to see who we killed or destroyed.

We would likely just send a little small UAS over the hill to check it out.

I dont think a bullet cam would work...We have pill cams these days to check out your small intestines, but theres a big difference, the g-forces would destroy the camera, but even if you could over come that, the picture would suck, those pill came have a frame rate of 5 (meaning 5 pics a second), which would get you like one picture, and it would be very blurry. Think of a Fighter jet going over mach 2, your standing on the ground and he's around 50 feet up, and you snap a picture while he zooms by you..... if you get it, the picture will still be worthless. Those high speed cameras they use for car crash tests are bulky.

Your idea is a bit odd, because the camera would be pointed forward, so if you shoot over a hill, how would you plan to see the other side? all you would see is blurry clouds.

Originally posted by Murcielago
Your idea is a bit odd, because the camera would be pointed forward, so if you shoot over a hill, how would you plan to see the other side? all you would see is blurry clouds.

no to mention the bullet is spiraling like a football. unless we have the technology that makes the camera able to move fast enough to deal with the spiraling. we have cameras that can rotate like the ones below the Predator drone that can rotate 360 degree. but they do rotate slowly so its not possible right now.

Do all bullets spin or just those shot out of rifled barrels? I believe that smooth bore barrels shot without the intense spiraling, however are not as accurate at long range. It would take some work, but I think it could be possible.

Range would be a problem because you wouldn't want a lot of force behind it as that would cause disentigration problems. With a low charge though, why not? You would have to be close, not only due to damage, but the satellite range would probably be very small, like no more than a mile.

Just my opinion.

a TV guided missile, or TOW missle kind of works like a bullet cam. Problem is most often your target would be damaged.

If it is a soft target you could probly use a "lipstick" camera with a radio transmitter, or recored onto a flash card, and batter powered. Porobly need a 20mm or 30mm shell to be able to fit it. Then it just becomes a matter if the lens can survive the stress of being fire

Heh, 30mm camera bullet

[edit on 8/19/2005 by Jehosephat]

I dont think all projectiles will spiral. A rifle will, I dont know what happens with muzzleloaders, cannons etc.......

Never thought of it.

The acceleration is just oo extreme. There is no way to get this to work. I cannot even imagine the g's, maybe someone with a math backround can figure out 0-3000 feet per second in 3 feet. How many g's would that be?

I dont think that they speed would the key issue.

A little searching for high speed cameras, I found one that will film 140,000 frames per second. (I am sure there are faster) If a bullet flies @ 3000 FPS, then that camera would film 47 frames per foot. That seems like enough footage to analyze.

That still leaves a lot of issues for you overcome though. Size, manuvering, G force, powder residue, relaying the video, decompression, decryption, analysis equipment, timing issues, etc.

But other than that ...(ha ha). I would say that this is probably possible with current technology.

Some of these issues may be able to be resolved by using a small grenade launcher like the M4 w/grenade launcher attachment instead of a bullet.


Presumably these larger rounds, have slower velocity, and you can fire them in an arch, instead of a straight line. This method would give you a larger camera to work with, less G-force, slower travel rate, etc.