Flying dragon robot sprays water to fight fires.

The Japanese robot Dragon Firefighter, with its flying dragon-like design, is equipped with eight water jets and integrates both traditional and thermal cameras for effective fire suppression.

A prototype flying dragon robot extinguishes a fire during a test. Photo: *Akita Prefectural University*

Japanese researchers have developed the Dragon Firefighter, a robot designed to resemble a flying dragon, to help firefighters tackle dangerous fires, Interesting Engineering reported on December 22nd. The new research was published in the journal Frontiers in Robotics and AI. The robot's design is publicly available, allowing robot manufacturers worldwide to freely use it to create firefighting dragon robots for the common good.

Based on the force generated by eight water jets at the top and middle of the body, the Dragon Firefighter's fire hose can be propelled up to 2 meters high. The nozzle is highly flexible, adapting and adjusting to the direction of the fire. The nozzle is guided by a control unit on a trolley at the rear. This trolley is connected to a fire truck with a 14,000-liter water tank via a water supply hose.

The water jets operate at a rate of 6.6 liters per second, with a maximum pressure of 1 megapascal. The nozzle incorporates both a traditional camera and a thermal camera, helping to identify and locate fires. This combination of technology enhances the firefighting capabilities of the Dragon Firefighter.

Researchers began developing the flying dragon robot in 2016. They worked with Japanese fire experts to better understand its specific requirements.

"Here we introduce a prototype of a 4-meter-long, remotely controlled flying fire hose robot, designed to safely and effectively extinguish fires in buildings by directly approaching the source of the fire," said Dr. Yuichi Ambe, co-author of the study and associate professor at Osaka University.

The Dragon Firefighter prototype was tested at the World Robot Summit in Fukushima in September 2021 and successfully extinguished a fire from a distance of 4 meters. Since then, the research team has made many improvements to the robot and is still continuing to refine it.

Scientists estimate it will take approximately 10 more years before the flying dragon robot can be used in real-world firefighting. The biggest challenge is extending the robot's operating range to over 10 meters. Addressing this challenge and developing firefighting strategies that are compatible with the Dragon Firefighter's unique capabilities will be key points in the robot's development process.

Thu Thao (According to Interesting Engineering )

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