February 6, 2015 — In exams aboard a decommissioned Navy ship final fall, a humanoid robotic positioned a stay shipboard fireplace and sprayed it with water from a hose. Called SAFFiR (Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot), the robotic has been developed by researchers at Virginia Tech, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The two-legged, or bipedal, robotic stands 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighs about 140 kilos. Sensors, together with infrared stereovision and a rotating laser for gentle detection and ranging (LIDAR), allow the humanoid to see via dense smoke. It is programmed to take measured steps and deal with hoses on his personal, however for now, takes directions from researchers at a pc console.
ONR says the distinctive mechanism design on the robotic equips it with super-human vary of movement to maneuver in complicated areas.
In three days of exams aboard the the previous USS Shadwell, the robotic walked throughout uneven flooring, used thermal imaging to determine overheated gear, and used a hose to extinguish a small fireplace.
The demo, 4 years within the making, is a part of a U.S. Navy effort to higher help sailors in preventing fires, controlling harm, and finishing up inspections aboard ships by way of user-controlled unmanned craft or humanoid robots.
“It’s not going to replace Navy firefighters, it’s going to assist Navy firefighters,” stated Viktor Orekhov of Morristown, Tennessee, who graduated from Virginia Tech in December 2014 with a doctorate in mechanical engineering.
Orekhov is certainly one of 15 engineering college students within the faculty’s Terrestrial Robotics Engineering and Controls Lab (TREC) and the Extreme Environments, Robotics & Materials Laboratory (ExtReMe) who helped conceive, design, construct, and take a look at SAFFiR.
During a three-day demo in November 2014, college students from the TREC and ExtReMe labs, together with college advisor Brian Lattimer, an affiliate professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, prepped SAFFiR for a hearth suppression take a look at onboard the previous USS Shadwell, a decommissioned ship in Mobile, AL, that’s now used as a harm management analysis heart to check new shipboard firefighting strategies.
Along a slender, low-hung hallway, SAFFiR was tasked — programmed by the labs’ imaging and manipulation crew — to stroll towards a sailor, cease, flip, find the warmth supply of a fireplace behind a door, and (as soon as the door opened) take a hose and blast the flames with water, all with out falling or stopping.
Students spent many hours aboard the ship prepping for the demo and tons of of hours earlier than that within the lab designing, fabricating, and testing SAFFiR. Unlike animating film robots with CGI, getting an actual robotic to stroll upright is a problem.
The Shadwell created additional obstacles: Heat from earlier take a look at fires has buckled its flooring. In the hallway the place SAFFiR walked, the ground slanted away from the trail the robotic has to take.
SAFFiR is, in fact, a prototype, and the day of robotic firefighters is lengthy off.
“These robots can work closely with human firefighters without firefighters being directly exposed to steam or heat, fire and smoke,” Dr. Thomas McKenna, ONR program supervisor for human-robot interplay and cognitive neuroscience, stated on the Shadwell demo.
Robots might at some point patrol ships, he stated, scanning for unnatural warmth, smoke, or different points and offering a “constant watch” towards onboard risks not detected by sailors.
The robotic’s presence might be welcome. “Have you ever been on a ship that’s on fire? It’s terrifying,” stated Dominique Pineiro, a Navy veteran on the Shadwell “That’s a fact.”
SAFFiR crew members and the Navy unveiled the robotic February 4, 2015, to media and the general public on the Naval Future Force Science & Technology EXPO in Washington, D.C.
Future incarnations of SAFFiR already are deliberate with the Navy, based on Lattimer, with upgrades together with improved motion. Funding from the Navy stands at $4.5 million and will enhance because the mission continues.
“We set out to build and demonstrate a humanoid capable of mobility aboard a ship, manipulating doors and fire hoses, and equipped with sensors to see and navigate through smoke,” stated Dr. McKenna. “The long-term goal is to keep sailors from the danger of direct exposure to fire.”
Dr. McKenna says ONR plans to sponsor a extra superior design as a part of the long-term investigational analysis program. Blueprints embrace equipping the robotic with enhanced intelligence, communications capabilities, velocity, computing energy and battery life for prolonged purposes.
“We have taken a look at other kinds of sensors that you can put on these robots,” he stated. “For instance, a bipedal robot could be configured to take shipboard measurements, scan for corrosion and leaks, and identify changes to the shape of the room from its original configuration. By taking on these time-consuming tasks, SAFFiR could free up sailors for jobs that more fully take advantage of their training and technical skill sets.”
Even with added intelligence, nevertheless, SAFFiR will take its instruction from sailors and “fire bosses” working remotely within the occasion of a fireplace or different harmful occasion.
“We’re working toward human-robot teams” Dr. McKenna stated. “It’s what we call the hybrid force: humans and robots working together.”
ONR envisions a future — lengthy off, however tangible — through which each ship has a robotic as a instrument for firefighters.
