Shipboard Fire Robotics Consortium - Spectra 2014
Shipboard Fire Robotics Consortium - Spectra 2014
Shipboard Fire Robotics Consortium - Spectra 2014
14
NRL FEATURES
and the NCARAI. Developments
made from this research will allow a
Navy firefighter to interact peer-to-peer,
shoulder-to-shoulder with a humanoid
robotic firefighter.
The NRL LASR, where the artificial
intelligence portion of the research is
performed, hosted the consortium of
university researchers to demonstrate
their most current developments.
The LASR facility allows the researchers from Virginia Tech and Penn to
demonstrate, in a controlled environment, progress in the critical steps
necessary for shipboard fire suppression using variants of their Shipboard
Autonomous Firefighting Robot,
or SAFFiR. In 2013, humanrobot
interaction technology and cognitive
models developed by NRL were also
demonstrated at the laboratory.
The LASR facility, with its unique
simulated multi-environments and
state-of-the-art labs allows us to test
out our ideas before we go to the
field, Schultz said. In essence, our
facility gives us a cost-saving method
for testing concepts and ideas before
we go to the expense of field trials.
While at LASR, the researchers demonstrated the complex motion, agility,
and walking algorithms of the robots
over natural and manmade terrain and
simulated shipboard sea state (pitch
and roll) conditions. Also demonstrated
were seek-and-find algorithms for
locating a fire emergency, in this case
an open flame, and the use of artificial
muscle for the lifting and activation
of fire suppression equipment, such
as opening a water valve, lifting and
walking with a fire hose, and activating
a nozzle.
SAFFiR is being designed to move
autonomously throughout a ship to
learn ship layout, interact with people,
patrol for structural anomalies, and
handle many of the dangerous firefighting tasks that are normally performed
by humans, McKenna said. The robot
is designed with enhanced multimodal
WINTER 2014
15
NRL FEATURES
SPECTRA
NRL FEATURES
SAFFiR
By Daniel Parry
NRL Public Affairs Office
WINTER 2014
17