Fighting fires was always dangerous. But with climate change, there have been more wildfires, which means even more risky rescue missions for local firefighting squads. That's why multiple different companies and teams of scientists are working to develop robots that can scope out burning buildings before human firefighters have to enter. The latest entrant is FireBot, a remote-controlled robot that can withstand temperatures as high as 650 degrees Celsius. At that scalding temperature, a firefighter wearing a protective suit can only withstand about 15 minutes of exposure.

The prototype drone, called FireDrone, could be sent into burning buildings or woodland to assess hazards and provide crucial first-hand data from danger zones. The data would then be sent to first responders to help inform their emergency response. The drone is made of a new thermal aerogel insulation material and houses an inbuilt cooling system to help it withstand temperatures of up to 200 C for ten minutes. Currently at prototype stage, the researchers believe FireDrone could eventually be used to scope out fires for people and extra hazards to bolster firefighting. Principal Investigator Professor Mirko Kovac, Director of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College London and Head of the Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics at Empa, said: "Until they enter the danger zone, firefighters can't be certain of what or who they'll find, and what challenges they'll encounter. "FireDrone could be sent in ahead to gather crucial information so that responders can prepare accordingly to ...

The worst flames in firefighting are the ones you don't see coming. In the midst of the chaos of a burning building, it's difficult to spot the warning signs of impending flashover -- a deadly fire phenomenon in which nearly all combustible items in a room spontaneously ignite. Flashover is one of the leading causes of firefighter deaths, but new research suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could provide much-needed forewarning to first responders. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Hong Kong Polytechnic University and other institutions have created a Flashover Prediction Neural Network (FlashNet) model to predict deadly events seconds before they occur. In a recent study that was published in Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, FlashNet outperformed existing AI-based flashover forecasting tools, boasting an accuracy of up to 92.1% across more than a dozen popular residential floorplans in the US.

In firefighting, the worst flames are the ones you don't see coming. Amid the chaos of a burning building, it is difficult to notice the signs of impending flashover -- a deadly fire phenomenon wherein nearly all combustible items in a room ignite suddenly. Flashover is one of the leading causes of firefighter deaths, but new research suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could provide first responders with a much-needed heads-up. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and other institutions have developed a Flashover Prediction Neural Network (FlashNet) model to forecast the lethal events precious seconds before they erupt. In a new study published in Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, FlashNet boasted an accuracy of up to 92.1% across more than a dozen common residential floorplans in the U.S. and came out on top when going head-to-head with other AI-based flashover predicting programs. Flashovers tend to suddenly flare up at approximately 600 degrees Celsius (1,100 degrees Fahrenheit) and can then cause temperatures to shoot up further.

The Paris Fire Brigade has seen its share of logistical challenges, but the massive conflagration that consumed parts of the Notre Dame cathedral on the night of 15 April required a fight of epic proportions. The cathedral is 856 years old and built in a style that makes it almost structurally impossible to contain a fire. The site doubles as both a wildly popular tourist attraction and a holy site for Christians. Defending this symbol of French heritage would require all the tactical and physical power the Brigade had at its disposal--human and otherwise. Soon after firefighters arrived at the scene, the cathedral's giant spire began to show signs of collapsing into the building.

Drones are a controversial tech gadget to say the least. They can pose a risk to aircraft, cause potential privacy issues, and are being used to smuggle contraband into prisons. Despite their bad reputation, a lot of research is being put into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within emergency missions. At New York University's Abu Dhabi campus, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Antonios Tzes, has been manning a project across five different universities in the US, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Greece, to develop drones for use inside buildings, particularly in fire situations. After designing ground vehicles for rescue operations, Tzes and his team were looking for a way to move away from the ground. "We needed to go up into the air, in confined spaces, and drones were the logical way to do it," he tells the Standard.

Firefighters in Los Angeles could soon get a helping hand from drones to help track down missing hikers, examine risks in burning buildings and search confined spaces. A landmark vote by the Los Angeles City Council has allowed the department to seek authorisation for use of drones in the field. While the drones have the potential to save thousands of lives, not everyone is happy with the decision, with some saying the unmanned flying systems raise'serious privacy concerns.' Officials from the Fire Department confirmed that the drones will not be used for police surveillance, but to assess hazards in hard-to-reach places. This includes tracking down missing hikers, examining risks in buring buildings and examining confined spacess.

Footage of robots falling over recently caused hilarity on social media. While we may be impressed by their artificial intelligence, humanoids often have an awkward, stumbling gait. Now scientists have developed a new system that they say will allow future robots to walk in the same way as humans, and avoid being knocked over easily. The technology could allow robots to one day take over human jobs, such as serving in the armed forces or doing household chores, the researchers claim. Scientists have developed a system that they say will allow robots to walk in the same way as humans.

NASA scientists are engineering a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that they hope will help firefighters and other first responders escape dangerous situations. Set to launch next year, the system will help first responders through unpredictable fires and chemical leaks by giving them advice based on machine learning of past emergencies. The new system--called AUDREY--the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction and sYnthesis--is designed to be distributed to individual firefighters so it can collect a precise network of data directly from the field, and learn from that data for next time. No emergency is the same, which means first responders have to rely on extensive training and experience to stay safe in dangerous conditions that can change rapidly. The AUDREY system hopes to use distributed data collection and machine learning to better inform first responders about the situation at hand.

Firefighters undergo rigorous training before responding to their first call but they still aren't superhuman. In a burning building there's a difference between what someone can sense in the surroundings and all the environmental data around him. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are working to fill that gap with an artificial intelligence system that can collect relevant information from the environment and relay it back to firefighters in real time. AUDREY -- or, the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction, and sYnthesis -- is integrated with the Internet of Things, which lets the system connect to wearable sensors and head-mounted displays on each firefighter, communicating data about temperatures, hazardous gases, and even GPS locations from one team member to another. "When first responders are connected to all these sensors, the AUDREY agent becomes their guardian angel," Edward Chow, manager of JPL's Civil Program Office and program manager for AUDREY, said in a press release.