It's like something out of a sci-fi movie. Although, I always imagined that the robots of the robotic uprising would be causing the fires, not putting them out.
But the fact that scientists at Virginia Tech and the U.S. Navy have developed a firefighting robot in real life is a much more comforting thought on so many levels. The Navy unveiled a prototype of this firefighting robot at the Naval Future Force Science & Technology EXPO on Feb. 4. Right now, it can walk across uneven surfaces, use thermal imaging to determine if equipment is overheated and extinguish small fires with a hose.
Standing at five feet 10 inches and weighing 143 pounds, the robot, known as the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot, or SAFFiR, is almost humanlike. Researchers developed SAFFiR as a way to fight fires aboard sea-faring vessels. Sensors, including thermal imaging cameras and a rotating, light-detecting laser called LIDAR, help the robot see through thick smoke, and it is programmed to extinguish fires with a hose with some help from humans at the controls. You can take a look at SAFFiR in action in the video below showing a series of experiments performed on Nov. 3 through Nov. 5, 2014.
"The long-term goal is to keep Sailors from the danger of direct exposure to fire," said Thomas McKenna, the Office of Naval Research's program manager for human-robot interaction and cognitive neuroscience, in a statement.
This program has been going on for about five years, but there's still lots more that the researchers would like to see implemented into SAFFiR. This includes enhancing the robot's intelligence, communication, speed, computing and battery life. A robot like SAFFiR could even be used to perform other tasks aboard a ship in the future, such as detecting corrosion and leaks, which could allow sailors to focus on other, more complex tasks.
Of course, a robot fighting fires instead of a human is SAFFiR's most exciting application right now. As TIME points out, a little more than 100 firefighters died while on duty in 2013, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, so any way to cut down on that number is obviously life-changing.
