Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Firefighting Robots may want to assist US military Snuff Out Fires at Sea



Hose-wielding humanoid robots ought to at some point hold navy firefighters out of harm's manner.
A prototype of an grownup-size firefighting bot become unveiled this week on the Naval destiny pressure technology and technology Expo in Washington, D.C. sponsored by using the U.S. workplace of Naval studies, the exposition was the appropriate location to show off a futuristic robot ready to combat fires at sea.
The bot's name is SAFFiR — quick for Shipboard autonomous Firefighting robotic. standing on two "legs," SAFFiR is set the scale of an adult guy, measuring 5 ft 10 inches (1.eight meters) tall and weighing approximately 140 lbs. (sixty four kilograms).
The robot has three approaches of seeing the arena: a stereo digital camera with two lenses that permit it to see with binocular vision (like a human), a thermal imaging digital camera that permits it to hit upon heat and notice via smoke, and a laser variety finder that lets in it to map out the space among itself and an object. Dexterous sufficient to maintain a fireplace hose, SAFFiR can both locate and positioned out a blaze.
Engineering college students from the Terrestrial Robotics Engineering and Controls Lab and the extreme Environments, Robotics & substances Laboratory at Virginia Tech created the firefighting bot as a part of a navy initiative aimed toward supporting sailors fight fires at sea. The bot could at some point be used to carry out safety inspections aboard a ship, patrol for fires and manage fireplace damage if it detects a blaze.
within the future, every military deliver that leaves port could have one of these firefighting robots on board, the researchers said.
"it's no longer going to replace army firefighters; it will help navy firefighters," Viktor Orekhov, a former Virginia Tech doctoral scholar who helped layout and construct the bot, stated in a declaration.
SAFFiR was examined several instances before being unveiled to the world this week. In November 2014, the life-size robotic performed a 3-day demonstration aboard the u.s.a.Shadwell, a decommissioned army warship presently anchored off the coast of cellular, Alabama.
at some point of the demo, SAFFiR was tasked with maneuvering alongside a slender, low-ceilinged hallway to find the supply of a fireplace. with out falling or stopping, the robot then needed to grasp a fire hose and blast the flames with water. The bot, which became managed from a distance via a crew from Virginia Tech, correctly put out the blaze.
"we've got validated a actual-global utility for humanoid robots that nobody has carried out before," said John Seminatore, a grasp's student in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech who helped create SAFFiR. "Manipulating an empty hose or walking down a hallway may be very exceptional than working in a warmth-warped, soot-stuffed corridor, dragging a hose filled with water."
previous to the November demo, the engineering college students who worked on SAFFiR spent hours aboard the usaShadwell, making ready the deliver for the robotic's take a look at. masses extra hours have been spent testing the bot in a lab.
eventually, the Virginia Tech team hopes to get its humanoid bot to act autonomously, but for now, it'll remain tested as a consumer-operated gadget. despite the fact that the bot does someday end up self sustaining, it's going to nevertheless be important for SAFFiR to take far flung coaching from sailors and firefighters, the researchers stated.
"these robots can work carefully with human firefighters without firefighters being without delay exposed to steam or heat, fire and smoke," Thomas McKenna, a application manager with the office of Naval studies, said at the demo in November. Robots may at some point patrol ships, scanning for unnatural heat, smoke or different troubles, and offering a "constant watch" for onboard risks that sailors might not be capable of come across, he said.

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