DESIGN SUMMARY DRAFT 2

Jane's article "Firefighting Robots Go Autonomous" (2021) informs us that dangerous firefighting tasks are carried out by firefighting drones. These drones come in varying shapes and sizes, ranging from military tank-like wagons weighing two tons to lightweight drones that can fly. Every year, around three thousand Americans lose their lives in 350,000 households and wildfires, of which 80 are firefighters. With the introduction of firefighting drones that can enter burning buildings with temperature and smoke hazards deemed too dangerous, countless lives could have been saved. Jane reported that these drones in operation are currently remote-controlled, but autonomous, self-driven intelligent drones are in development by researchers. The real issue that is holding these drones from going fully autonomous is not the matter of technological advancement but a lack of investment funds due to disinterest from investors. A group of university students have worked to change this using commonly available materials to create a firefighting drone named R2-D2. The features that come with R2-D2 are a heat-sensing and distancing navigational camera. The heat-sensing camera helps to locate the source of ignition. A signal is sent to the water nozzle to put out the flame. And as for the navigational camera, it helps the drone manoeuvre around obstacles and terrain. The firefighting department should work closely with the drone development team to accelerate the progress of having the designated drones placed into production. If successful, it could lower the entry cost of firefighting drones on the current market, allowing more drones to be deployed in firefighting. Hence, saving more lives.

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