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Researchers from Virginia Tech revealed more details approximately their ongoing project taking into account the US Navy: the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR). Speaking at the Naval Future Force Science & Technology EXPO, the researchers discussed the results of recent tests of SAFFiR as it walked happening for uneven floors, located overheating equipment, and wounded little fires onboard the decommissioned USS Shadwell.
We set out to manufacture and nervousness a humanoid talented of mobility aboard a ship, manipulating doors and fire hoses, and equipped considering sensors to see and navigate through smoke, said Dr. Thomas McKenna, program officer for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The long-term plan is to retain Sailors from the agonized of focus on aeration to ember.
The two-legged robot is five-foot-ten inches high and weighs 143 pounds. The researchers make known the robot is clever to concern in ways a human cannot, consequently that it can robustly navigate the rarefied spaces about speaking the ship naval vessel. It uses infrared sensors and LIDAR to navigate through dense smoke.
Balancing upon any type of terrain thats unstable especially for bipedal robots is utterly hard, said Brian Lattimer, member professor for mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. Whole-body exaggeration manage allows for the machine to optimize the locations of all of its joints as a upshot that it maintains its center of lump upon unclear and unstable surfaces.
While SAFFiR can operate autonomously, a human operator is always kept in the loop to meet the expense of auspices if necessary. In the well along, the researchers slant to enhanced SAFFiRs precious depth software, communications capabilities, promptness, computing gift, and battery cartoon. They moreover dream to enable to machine to handle a wider range of duties, such as scanning hulls for corrosion and leaks.
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