First responders in Kent, England have a powerful new tool: a remote-controlled robot for fighting fires.
This is a growing trend in firefighting, sending devices into a fire scene so there are fewer human firefighters at risk.
The bot Kent Fire and Rescue Service introduced earlier this month can take direction as far as 600 meters away from its human operator.
It’s got a camera so its operator can survey the fire up close, and it’s got thermal sensors for a more data-driven approach.
Once in action, it can spray 2,000 liters of water a minute.
The department can deploy the robot to fight fires where it’s too dangerous or too difficult for humans to go.
Which prompts a question: why aren’t fire departments everywhere getting a zillion of these things to take the pressure off our firefighters?
Well, they’re pretty expensive, for starters; some units cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Size is another issue: some are essentially small cars, which means fire departments have to figure out how to get the robots to and from fires, and where to keep them when they’re off duty.
And, like any new tool, fire departments need time to learn how these bots work and how to add them to their fire response.
That means extra training and planning and so forth.
These days, researchers are studying whether these devices can be autonomous, maybe using their heat sensors to decide for themselves the best way to put out a fire.
That kind of work doesn’t happen overnight either.
But over time we are seeing more robotic firefighters joining fire companies all over the world.
If you’re wondering because of the wildfires whether there’s a firefighting robot in southern California, the answer is yes.
Los Angeles got a Thermite RS3 firefighting robot in 2020, though there was a slight hiccup when they first brought the bot on board.
The department had scheduled a press conference to show off their new acquisition, but the robot was (initially) a no-show… because it had to help put out a fire.
Starting tomorrow in Richmond, Indiana, it’s the Meltdown Winter Ice Festival.
Artists not only compete to make the best ice sculptures, they’re also trying to sculpt faster then the rest, in front of audiences.
Plus, there are games made completely out of ice, an ice cream eating contest and a pageant of people dressed as their favorite characters from the movie “Frozen.”
Then everybody can warm back up at the hot chocolate station.
Britain’s firefighting robot that can spray 2,000 litres of water a minute enters service (Interesting Engineering)
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Photo by Los Angeles Fire Department via Flickr/Creative Commons
