New robot deployed to fight fires in Kent

KentOnline / KMTV

Kent Fire and Rescue service have introduced robotic assistance, using specially designed machines to tackle fires in situations that are deemed too hazardous for humans.

Transcript

00:00From fighting fires to dragging victims to safety, this robot is Kent Fire & Rescue's latest recruit.

00:06The idea for this equipment is that it will be able to access and extinguish fires in areas

00:11that are too dangerous or difficult for firefighters to reach, keeping crews safer

00:16and freeing up resources for other emergencies. It can even shoot 2,000 litres of water per minute,

00:23which is more than double what the hoses can spray. But how reliable is this technology

00:28that uses a PlayStation controller?

00:31So the robot itself has got lots of redundancy built in. I think it's the first thing to be

00:36aware of in that there's lots of different capabilities that allow it to be a resilient

00:41piece of equipment. The second is, as you say, it does use a PlayStation controller.

00:47That can be easily replaced and swapped out. So if needed, we could use a PlayStation from

00:52somebody's one at home and use that as part of the robot.

00:56During testing, they monitor the robot to see if it can withstand extreme heat.

01:01They also practiced its capabilities to see if it worked,

01:04and so far they seem to be pleased with the outcome.

01:07It's got a 2,000 litre per minute monitor on it, which is a lot of water. It's able to be

01:13moved and relocated remotely, so 200, 300 metres away, depending on radio signal.

01:19It's also got a full optic capability and a full thermal imagery capability,

01:24which allows us to understand how hot a fire is burning and where to apply water in certain

01:29situations.

01:30Currently trained on how to use it are six members of the firefighting team,

01:34who hope to benefit from the new addition.

01:36There's many incidents that we would attend, chemical incidents where we've got to gather

01:41information without committing crews, or just firefighting within a large commercial premise

01:47like a warehouse would be an ideal situation to use the robot. It's got the ability to attach

01:53gas monitors to it, so we can survey the atmosphere within the area, which is great.

02:00And we've got camera, which has got good optical and thermal capabilities.

02:06We've also communication systems as well, so we can give instruction to people within the area.

02:12As testing and demonstrations continue, Kent Fire & Rescue are preparing to use the bot

02:17in real life situations. If it works, the future of firefighting may look

02:22much different than it does today.

02:24Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Ramsgate.

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