The Dragon Firefighter Flies on Jets of Water to Put Fires Out — Rather Than Starting Them
Designed to tackle fires from above, this reverse-dragon spits out 105 gallons of flame-quenching water per minute.
Researchers from Japan's Akita Prefectural University, Tohoku University, and Osaka University, have come up with what can only be described as a reverse dragon — a 13-foot-long aerial hose robot which puts fires out, rather than starting them.
"We here present a prototype of a four-meter-long, remotely controllable flying firehose robot, engineered to safely and efficiently extinguish fires in buildings by directly approaching the fire sources," co-corresponding author Yuchi Ambe, PhD, says of the device, dubbed the Dragon Firefighter.
Looking more snake-like than dragon-esque, the Dragon Firefighter flies above a fire using water jets — which, handily, also serve to quench the flames. A hose connects the robot, which is steered from a wheeled cart at the rear, to a truck featuring a 3,000-gallon water reservoir drained at a rate of 105 gallons per minute.
The robot's head includes both a visible-light camera and a thermal-imaging camera, allowing controllers to pinpoint the source of flames and better direct the dragon's water jets. The device was first demonstrated at the World Robot Summit 2020, but the team behind it say the dragon has been considerably improved in the years since — to the point where they're happy to release its design for others to investigate and iterate upon.
"We found that the original passive dampening mechanism which counters oscillations of the Dragon Firefighter’s body was impractical: it took too long to prepare for flight," Yu Yamauci, PhD, explains of the tweaks required to the design. "We also found that heat from fires can cause detrimental plastic deformation in outdoor applications of the corrugated tube that holds the water hose and electric cables."
It could be a while before you see the robot out fighting fires, though. "We estimate that it will take approximately 10 more years to deploy our robot in real-world firefighting scenarios," Ambe admits. "The primary challenge will be to extend its reach to beyond 10 meters [around 33 feet]. Developing effective firefighting tactics tailored to this robot's unique capabilities will likewise be a critical aspect of further development."
The team's work is detailed in the journal Frontiers in Robotics and AI under open-access terms.