Everyone carries around compact technology these days. iPads, iPhones, Android devices, the list goes on. But what if some of those components were combined for a much larger purpose? DARPA has accomplished exactly that. They’ve developed a new system called ARGUS built from an array of 368 image sensors forming 1.8 billion pixels, it is the world’s highest resolution camera.

ARGUS is a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) / drone add-on. Since most of ARGUS’ components and designs are classified, we only get a peek at the enclosure. However, they show is an image taken from 17,500 feet in the air of a medium sized city that covers about 15 miles around, and even from that height, DARPA can digitally zoom in and see birds, people waving, walking, driving, etc.

A million terabytes can be recorded in one day using ARGUS, which is the equivalent of 5,000 hours of high definition footage. With technology like this, it may not be long before UAVs are commonly seen flying through the air.

Source: The Atlantic