Robots may soon accompany firefighters on their calls to tame building fires, thanks to a team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego.
The new device resembles a small Segway and carries with it a sophisticated on-board software system capable of taking the thermal data recorded by its small infrared camera and producing a 3D scene constructed from images taken by a pair of stereo RGB cameras.
In doing so, the robot is able to produce a virtual reality picture that includes a 3D map and temperature data in order to guide responders in their methodology when dealing with potentially deadly scenarios.
The research is part of a greater picture aimed at developing novel robotic scouts that can help firefighters to assist in residential and commercial blazes, according to a news release, the results of which will all be presented in Hong Kong next year.
Participating robots will be able to map and photograph the interior of burning buildings by using stereo vision and gather data from various sensors in order to characterize the state of the fire, including temperatures, volatile gases and structural integrity when looking for survivors.
"These robot scouts will be small, inexpensive, agile, and autonomous," said Thomas Bewley, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego and the robot’s inventor. "Firefighters arriving at the scene of a fire have 1000 things to do. To be useful, the robotic scouts need to work like well-trained hunting dogs, dispatching quickly and working together to achieve complex goals while making all necessary low-level decisions themselves along the way to get the job done."
For this reason, Bewley’s robot is able to not only self-right itself when bumped, but climb stairs as well.
The project represents a collaboration between researchers at the Jacobs School of Engineering and the University of Illinois, the San Diego Fire-rescue Department as well as local corporate sponsors.