Imaging Marbles

Imaging marbles by Iczer

These small, marble sized black balls are usually carried in groups of 10-30. When rolled for more than a dozen feet continuously, they split evenly into two halves and start emitting high frequency waves out to around 8 feet each. a fistful of these marbles can be used to rapidly sonar map a room or area, updating in real time. The data collected by these marbles, is linked to a portable unit carried by the deployer, and the dedicated software uses it to generate the real time sonar map.
Deploying the marbles requires an action to perform, and they react quickly. Using the hand held unit, the deployer can quickly guage numbers and movements in the mapped area.
A much larger (golf ball sized) unit is being field tested. These larger scanners have an effective 20 foot range, but rely on overlap. They are deployed by a gas canister that is fired above an engagement, which rains down on the enemy. This method tends to scatter the sensors fairly wide so the data is less accurate, but spread over a wide area.
In both forms, the units can be detonated at range. This is noisy and a little smoky, but the charges are designed to distract and confuse (as well as destroy evidence) rather than assault. Limited testing is underway to add a chemical warfare agent to the mix. Undetonated nodules can be collected.