PREVIEW

Picture a flying dragon that doesn’t breathe fire but instead extinguishes flames with jets of water. Thanks to a team of Japanese researchers, this innovative firefighter robot, known as the Dragon Firefighter, may soon join firefighting teams worldwide. The Dragon Firefighter's firehose is propelled upward (flying at two meters above the ground) by eight controllable water jets spouting from its centre and head. The firehose, steered by a control unit in a wheeled cart behind, can change shape and be oriented towards flames. The cart is linked through a supply tube to a fire truck with a water reservoir of 14,000 liters. The nozzles release water at a rate of 6.6 litres per second with a pressure of up to one megapascal. The hose’s tip incorporates a conventional and thermal imaging camera to locate the fire. The scientists estimate that it will take approximately 10 more years to deploy our robot in real-world firefighting scenarios.