Robots are being designed and built to support people in a wide variety of ways. At Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN they are developing robots that can assist firefighters in doing their jobs. The breakthrough improvement in design involves a new automatic T-valve system that allows the robot to remove water from the fire hose whenever the robot moves to a new location. This means that the firefighter who is alongside the robot can pull an empty fire hose as opposed to one filled with water. Not being weighed down by a heavy fire hose means that the firefighter and robot can move more quickly and efficiently in a burning structure. This design also puts less stress on the robot, allowing for longer battery life. These robots could be used in situations deemed too dangerous for firefighters to enter.
“This discharge valve invention could be the next transformation of the fire service that saves lives,” said Eric Dietz, director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and a professor of computer and information technology in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. “This invention further enables the firefighting robot by adding to the robot mobility and saving lives within the fire service and, most importantly, with the public. With this improvement, the firefighting robots are better able to save lives and protect property.”
The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization recently filed a patent on the technology. They are currently searching for partners to help with continued research and taking the technology to market.
