Up, up, and away: Phoenix40-A takes to the skies after casing a building.

Just when you thought you might be able to outrun the Cougar20-H surveillance robot that can detect human breathing, developer TiaLinx has launched a flying version that can do the same.

The Phoenix40-A is a mini-UAV with six rotors that can detect motion and breathing when searching for hidden people.

Like the Cougar20-H, it has an ultra-wideband radio frequency sensor array and can also detect motionless live objects. It also has video cameras for site surveillance.

Developed with U.S. Army funding, the Phoenix unmanned aerial vehicle can be remotely controlled from ground or air with a laptop or joystick, and can fly to multiple GPS points on its missions.

The flying robot's RF array can penetrate concrete walls from "an extended range," according to TiaLinx, which is based in Newport Beach, Calif.

Other skills include providing the layout of a multistory building and scanning roads for unexploded ordnance.

Skynet might dig that, but the Phoenix could also be deployed in humanitarian missions. It could work in disasters such as earthquakes to scan for survivors, or even find landmines in former war zones.