Dragon Radar

The Dragon Radar is a compact, handheld tracking device invented by the teenage prodigy Bulma. It detects a faint electromagnetic signal unique to Dragon Balls and displays their positions on a circular green screen. A button on top toggles between a wide-area map showing all seven Dragon Balls simultaneously and a zoomed-in view that provides more precise positioning for locating a specific ball.

Bulma created the Dragon Radar before the events of the original Dragon Ball series, and it was instrumental in her very first adventure with Goku. Without it, gathering the Dragon Balls would rely entirely on chance or magical means, making the radar arguably the single most important non-combat invention in the franchise. Bulma continues to maintain and upgrade the device throughout Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, and Dragon Ball GT.

Other Versions

Bulma is not the only inventor to create a Dragon Ball tracking device. Emperor Pilaf constructed his own version independently, and the Red Ribbon Army developed their own radar as well, though neither matched the precision of Bulma's design. In Dragon Ball GT, the small robot Giru swallowed the Dragon Radar and integrated its functionality into his own systems, effectively becoming a living Dragon Radar for the duration of the Black Star Dragon Ball hunt.

The radar has proven useful beyond Earth's Dragon Balls. It was used to track the Namekian Dragon Balls on Planet Namek and later adapted to locate the Black Star Dragon Balls scattered across the universe. The Heeters even stole the radar from Earth to find the Cerealian Dragon Balls on Planet Cereal during the Granolah the Survivor Saga.