Dragon Firefighter Flying Robotic: The Way forward for Firefighting

In a groundbreaking improvement, scientists have created a brand new ally for firefighters: the Dragon Firefighter. This flying firehose is designed to fight probably the most harmful fires, offering a safer different for human firefighters.

The Dragon Firefighter is the brainchild of a workforce of Japanese researchers. “We right here current a prototype of a four-meter-long, remotely controllable flying firehose robotic, engineered to soundly and effectively extinguish fires in buildings by instantly approaching the fireplace sources,” mentioned joint corresponding creator Dr. Yuichi Ambe, an assistant professor at Osaka College.

The design, printed in Frontiers in Robotics and AI, relies on Open Science ideas, permitting researchers worldwide to freely use the plans to construct their very own Dragon Firefighters.

The Dragon Firefighter operates by propelling a firehose upward, flying at two meters above the bottom, utilizing eight controllable jets of water spouting from its heart and head. The firehose can change form and be oriented in the direction of flames, steered by a management unit in a wheeled cart behind. The cart is related via a provide tube to a hearth truck with a water reservoir of 14,000 liters.

The Dragon Firefighter made its debut on the World Robotic Summit 2020 (WRS2020), held in September 2021 in Fukushima, the place it efficiently extinguished the ceremonial flame from a distance of 4 meters.

Since then, the workforce has continued to refine the design. “For the reason that demonstration at WRS2020, now we have continued to work on enhancing our Dragon and have discovered many new issues,” mentioned Dr. Yu Yamauchi, an assistant professor at Akita Prefectural College and one other corresponding creator.

Enhancements embrace higher waterproofing, a nozzle unit able to dealing with a wider vary of web forces, and an improved mechanism for channeling water move. Nevertheless, the workforce anticipates that it’s going to take roughly 10 extra years to deploy the robotic in real-world firefighting eventualities.

“The first problem will probably be to increase its attain to past 10 meters. Growing efficient firefighting techniques tailor-made to this robotic’s distinctive capabilities will likewise be a vital facet of additional improvement,” mentioned Ambe.

This progressive strategy to firefighting may revolutionize the sphere, offering a safer and extra environment friendly approach to fight harmful fires. The Dragon Firefighter is a testomony to the potential of robotics and AI in creating options for real-world issues.

Learn extra: