The circus trick of firing a person from a cannon is being patented by DARPA as a way to get special forces, police officers and fire fighters onto the roofs of tall buildings faster.

DARPA proposal and human cannonball from 1925

A ramp with side rails would be placed on the ground near the target building at an angle of about 80°. A person would then sit in a chair, like a pilot’s ejection seat, attached to the ramp. Compressed air from a cylinder underneath would be released to shoot the chair up the ramp’s rails. At the top the chair would come to an instant halt, leaving the person to fly up and over the edge of the roof, to land on top of the building.

To get the trajectory right, DARPA suggests a computer could automatically devise the correct angle and speed of ascent. The patent also claims that a 4-metre-tall launcher could put a man on the top of a 5 storey building in less than 2 seconds.

Via New Scientist.
More darpa madness: The Deep-Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation project, planes to act like plants, Non-acoustic sensors detect speech without sound, cyber-insect army, and in the always surprising Defense Tech.

Related: Pumpkin shooting.