Under the premise “Firefighters are heroes, let’s turn them into superheroes”, a group of researchers in Scotland created a helmet with Artificial intelligence to assist them in rescuing fire victims.
Seeing through smoke and darkness are those of the “superpowers” granted by the helmet designed by the Edinburgh National Robotarium.
The equipment could also be equipped in the future with an integrated screen that works with 3D maps, giving firefighters greater awareness of the environment during rescues.
Chris Xiaoxuan Lu, Professor of Cyber-Physical Systems at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics, spoke with Euronews about its creation.
“We want firefighters have this superhero ability: see through the smoke, see through the dark and have this ability to come up with effective search and rescue solutions.”noted the expert.
“This new helmet will improve firefighter safety from multiple dimensions. We already talked about searching for victims. We also talk about navigation together with all the sensor units”, highlights Lu.
This is the helmet with Artificial Intelligence for firefighters
the helmet weighs less than 1.3 kilos and was built with solidary price parts, using sensors, thermal cameras and radar technology based on Artificial Intelligence. In addition, it is easy to connect to the common firefighting suit and is not very expensive to produce.
It is currently in the concept phase, seeking sponsors and collaborators in the industry to launch it on a large scale.
The professionals of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service they tested the creation of the National Robotarium. In his words, “it offers a thermal imaging capability that helps us tremendously in terms of locating a person.”
“We can scan a room much better with it, taking only 5-10 seconds and not several minutes as usual.”
Glen Macaffer, watch commander for the Scottish body, added: “Our team can sometimes be restrictive in terms of what we have to do to search for people. Add heat, dark smoke – having a thermal imaging capability helps us tremendously in terms of locating someone.”
Lu emphasizes that, “in the long term, we will try to investigate what is the most efficient form of communication between frontline firefighters and external commanders-in-chief, so that all systems can be even more efficient.”