Dubai: Move over RoboCop, meet Robo-firefighters – News
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KT Photos: Treasurer Angel
They ride like tanks and look as formidable as armored personnel carriers. But they are not made for war. These are remote-controlled electric robotic firefighters that made their way at the recent Intersec 2024 in Dubai.
They are the capable “assistants” of human firefighters. Your mission is to enter burning buildings that are too risky for human survival. They can work when the smoke is too toxic for human lungs. They can lift heavy objects and even serve as a platform for stretchers to transport injured people.
Firefighting robots have not yet been deployed to extinguish real fires in the country, but there are local distributors of mechanized fire response equipment, including Dubai-based fire protection systems provider NAFFCO and a couple of distributors of China. They showed their products at Intersec 2024.
There is also a Dubai-based company that last year introduced a mobile firefighter called Wabel (which means heavy rain in Arabic).
Saving the firefighters
According to ‘robofirefighter’ distributors, firefighting robots can save the lives of firefighters themselves. “Rather than risk sending human rescuers into dangerous places to extinguish the fire, robots can be deployed.”
In May last year, an Emirati firefighter died in the line of duty while putting out a fire in Dubai. A part of the roof collapsed on the 29-year-old martyr.
“The ‘robo firefighters’ can put out the fire that has occurred in a petrochemical plant, a large warehouse, buildings and other places with high temperatures and strong thermal radiation. They are built to withstand a collapsed wall or any area with dangerous contamination,” said Adam Cui, sales manager of Shandong GuoXing Intelligent Technology. Khaleej Times.
“The firefighting robots are equipped with cameras and are controlled remotely by trained personnel. They have tank-like tracks and can navigate dangerous places. The front nozzle can shoot or spray water or foam.”
“Firefighting robots are controlled remotely, but researchers are now developing ‘smart’ firefighting robots that can make decisions autonomously,” he added.
Here are two notable firefighting robots seen by Khaleej Times:
NAFFCO NFR-500
- It can spray water or foam at 1,000 to 3,000 liters per minute.
- Chassis made of aeronautical aluminum
- Obstacle distance: Up to 30 cm; slope up to 40°; lateral slope up to 35°
- Traction capacity: 1t
- Payload: 500 kg
- Dimensions: 76 cm high; 78cm wide; 1.60 m length
- 2x 4,000W electric motors; Powered by ultra-durable, easy-to-install 6 Shark Energy lithium-ion batteries.
- 12 hours in operations
- Speed: 5 kilometers per hour
- Thermal camera with x30 zoom video turret
- It has GPS, temperature sensors and integrated inertial unit.
- Batteries inside anti-explosion box.
- Price: less than 1 million dirhams
Guoxing Mini Fire Extinguisher Robot
- Dimension: 1,700 X 1,000 X 1,300 mm
- Own weight <900 kg
- Maximum obstacle distance 200 mm
- Has explosion proof battery
- The remote control function can reach up to 40 meters.
- Working time more than 2 hours.
- It has a function to avoid obstacles.
- The sprinkler can cool itself
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