OLE Firefighting Pill Bug-Like Bots May One Day Save Forests
Writing by David Ponce on Tuesday, 14 of August , 2007 at 2:12 am
Thinking caps at the University of Madgeburg-Stendal in Germany are developing beetle-like autonomous bots whose primary mission would consist of scuttling around in forests, putting fires out. They’re calling them OLE (though we’re not sure what the acronym stands for) and could theoretically run around the forest at 20 to 30 km per hour. We say theoretically because at the moment, the bots are not much more than a concept.
The reason for their appearance is due to the fact that, much like a real pill bug, when the bots sense danger, they’ll retract their legs and lay on the ground (like a pill), protected from up to 1,300C degrees by their ceramic coating. A team of 30 OLEs could cover and protect a forest area as large as 4,400 miles.
A timeline for their eventual production is unavailable.
[ Read More ] VIA [StreetTech ]
Comments (2)
Category: Research
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Comment by pc
Made Tuesday, 14 of August , 2007 at 8:10 am
would be interesting so see how it navigates forest floor obstacles
Comment by Richard Millwood
Made Friday, 17 of August , 2007 at 4:15 am
That’ll put an end to the campsite barbecue – steaks are almost cooked and some beetle-bot launches itself from the undergrowth at the fire to extiguish it with a cloud of white smoke! It should team up with the weight-watcher bot with the soppy brown eyes – Mr Nice and Mr Nasty in the fight against flab.