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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