The flying dragon spits water to extinguish the fire in an experiment by its Japanese developers (Eurek Alert website)

Firefighting is considered one of the most difficult tasks that requires heroic actions to limit and combat its spread. Like most fields that put humans at risk, scientists are working to provide technological solutions capable of facilitating human life.

As part of an attempt to search for solutions to extinguish fires, especially those that affect residential areas and pose a major challenge to rescue teams, a Japanese research team developed a flying dragon that does not breathe fire, but rather pours water to extinguish the flames.

The journal Frontiers in Robotics and AI published the detailed diagram of a new firefighter robot, called the Dragon Firefighter, which is a flying firehose that can help firefighters put out the most dangerous fires.

According to a press release from the Frontiers Scientific Research Foundation published by EurekAlert, roboticists around the world can use the “Flying Dragon” robot to fight fires from a distance, and build firefighters to extinguish fires that are too large and dangerous for humans to fight.

Beginnings

According to a statement by the Frontiers Scientific Research Foundation, the first beginnings of thinking about creating a dragon robot for firefighting date back to the year 2016, when a research team from the laboratory of Professor Satoshi Tadokoro at Tohoku University began working on inventing and developing flying robots.

Since then, 11 researchers and students have contributed to its further development. Before and during development, the researchers coordinated with Japanese firefighters to better understand their needs.

"Here we present a prototype robot; a four-meter-long, remotely controlled flying firehose designed to safely and efficiently extinguish building fires by directly approaching the source of the fire," says study co-author Dr. Yuichi Ambe, an assistant professor at Osaka University.

The Frontiers Scientific Research Foundation's statement indicates that at the opening ceremony of the World Robot Summit held in September 2021 in Fukushima, Japan, the announcement was made of the flying dragon firefighter robot, which was able in 49 to 51 minutes to extinguish the ceremonial flame consisting of fireballs ignited by a robot. Another at a distance of four meters.

On the other hand, the statement issued by the Frontiers Foundation addressed the lessons learned from the flying dragon. Along with the details of the design of the firefighting robot, the study discusses the lessons learned from this first demonstration of the dragon’s capabilities, in addition to identifying further improvements that have been made since then.

The main challenge with the flying dragon's trunk will be extending its reach beyond 10 meters (Shutterstock)

How it works?

Regarding how the Flying Dragon uses water to fight fires, the statement issued by the Frontiers Foundation says: The Dragon Firefighter’s fire hose is propelled upward (it flies two meters above the ground) by eight jets of water that can be controlled from its center and head.

The fire hose can also change shape and be directed towards the flame, directed by a control unit on a wheeled cart behind it, and the cart can be connected through a supply pipe to the fire truck with a water tank with a capacity of 14 thousand liters.

The nozzles release water at a rate of 6.6 liters per second at a pressure of up to one megapascal, and the end of the hose contains a conventional and thermal imaging camera that helps determine the location of the fire.

“Since the demonstration at the World Robot Summit (2021), we have continued to work on improving our Dragon and learned a lot of new things,” says Dr. Yu Yamauchi, an assistant professor at Akita Prefectural University and co-author of the study. “For example, we found that the original passive damping mechanism... "Resisting the oscillations of the Dragon Fireman's body was impractical, as it took a long time to prepare for flight. We also found that the heat from fires could cause harmful deformation of plastic in outdoor applications of corrugated pipe that carries water hose and electrical cables."

Regarding the improvements that will be made to the robot that was developed, the Frontiers Foundation statement stated that they will include other improvements detailed in the study; Better waterproofing, a nozzle unit capable of handling a wider range of net forces, and an improved water flow directing mechanism. More development is in the pipeline.

Regarding the scenario of deploying firefighting robots in the world, Dr. Yoichi Ambe says: “We believe that it will take about another 10 years to deploy our robot in real-world firefighting scenarios, where the primary challenge will be to expand its reach beyond 10 meters.” Therefore, developing effective firefighting methods tailored to this robot’s unique capabilities will also be a crucial aspect for further development.”

Source: Al Jazeera + websites