Press Release Archive

  • home_icon HOME
  • News
  • Press Release Archive

KAIST researchers developed a wall-climbing scout drone to fight fires in high-rises, finding the source of the fires and locating people trapped inside.

 

The 1974 American disaster film Towering Inferno depicted well the earnest struggles of firefighters engaged in ending a fire at a 138-story skyscraper. To this day, fires at high-rise buildings are considered one of the most dangerous disasters.

 

Skyscraper fires are particularly difficult to contain because of their ability to spread rapidly in high-occupant density spaces and the challenge of fighting fires in the buildings’ complex vertical structure. Accessibility to skyscrapers at the time of the fire is limited, and it is hard to assess the initial situation.   

 

A research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) led by Professor Hyun Myung of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department developed an unmanned aerial vehicle, named the Fireproof Aerial RObot System (FAROS), which detects fires in skyscrapers, searches the inside of the building, and transfers data in real time from fire scenes to the ground station.

 

As an extended version of Climbing Aerial RObot System (CAROS) that was created in 2014 by the research team, the FAROS can also fly and climb walls.

 

The FAROS, whose movements rely on a quadrotor system, can freely change its flight mode into a spider’s crawling on walls, and vice versa, facilitating unimpeded navigation in the labyrinth of narrow spaces filled with debris and rubble inside the blazing building. 

 

The drone “estimates” its pose by utilizing a 2-D laser scanner, an altimeter, and an Inertia Measurement Unit sensor to navigate autonomously. With the localization result and using a thermal-imaging camera to recognize objects or people inside a building, the FAROS can also detect and find the fire-ignition point by employing dedicated image-processing technology.      

 

The FAROS is fireproof and flame-retardant. The drone’s body is covered with aramid fibers to protect its electric and mechanical components from the direct effects of the flame. The aramid fiber skin also has a buffer of air underneath it, and a thermoelectric cooling system based on the Peltier effect to help maintain the air layer within a specific temperature range.             

 

The research team demonstrated the feasibility of the localization system and wall-climbing mechanism in a smoky indoor environment. The fireproof test showed that the drone could endure the heat of over 1,000° Celsius from butane gas and ethanol aerosol flames for over one minute.

 

Professor Myung said, “As cities become more crowded with skyscrapers and super structures, fire incidents in these high-rise buildings are life-threatening massive disasters. The FAROS can be aptly deployed to the disaster site at an early stage of such incidents to minimize the damage and maximize the safety and efficiency of rescue mission.” 

 

The research team has recently started to enhance the performance of the fireproof design for the exteroceptive sensors including a 2-D laser scanner and a thermal-imaging camera because those sensors could be more exposed to fire than other inside sensors and electric components.

 

This research was funded by the KAIST Initiative for Disaster Studies and the KAIST Institute.

 

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/gPNRZi0EPQw


Picture 1: Demonstration of Wall-climbing

N_20160120103709_0212.jpg

The Fireproof Aerial RObot System (FAROS) is a wall-climbing scout drone developed to conduct explorations into the site of skyscraper fires. It has an ability to climb walls in smoky, narrow spaces inside buildings.ver 1,000° Celsius from butane gas and ethanol aerosol flames for over one minute.


Figure 2: An Ability to Withstand Fires

F_20160120103733_034.jpg

The FAROS can endure the heat of over 1,000° Celsius from butane gas and ethanol aerosol flames for over one minute.




List of Articles
No. Category Subject Author Date Views
35 KINC Graphene-based Transparent Electrodes for Highly Efficient Flexible OLEDs [2016-06-07] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.18 48209
34 KIHST Next-generation Holographic Microscope for 3D Live Cell Imaging [2016-03-29] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.18 50008
33 KINC KAIST Researchers Develop a Technology to Enable Unzipping of the Graphene Plane [2016-03-22] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.18 15283
» Others A Firefighter Drone That Flies and Crawls Up Walls [2016-01-20] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.18 66759
31 Others 융합연구기획과제 성과 - 대학 캠퍼스 내 실내외 통합 내비게이션 개발 [2015-09-17] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 9580
30 KIR BBC News Channel's Technology Program "Click"Aired KAIST's Jellyfish Robot [2015-08-06] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 8504
29 KIHST Fast and Accurate 3-D Imaging Technique to Track Optically-Trapped Particles [2015-08-06] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 22654
28 KIHST Anti-Cancer Therapy Delivering Drug to an Tumor Developed by KAIST Researchers [2015-08-06] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 24573
27 KINC KAIST Develope a Credit-Card-Thick Flexible Lithium Ion Battery [2015-08-06] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 61170
26 KINC 조병진, 임성갑, 유승협 교수 휘어지는 10나노미터 고분자 절연막 개발 [2015-08-05] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 8227
25 KIITC 박인규 교수, 공기오염 측정 센서 원천기술 개발 [2015-08-05] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 5912
24 KINC 최성율 교수 도장 찍듯이 자유롭게 그래핀 옮기는 기술 개발 [2015-08-05] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 8571
23 KIHST KIOST 김승우 연구소장 올해 국가과학자 선정 [2012-09-20] KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 5098
22 KIHST 이제는 세포 내부도 훤히 들여다본다 [2012-01-27] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 4991
21 KINC 전기적 자기적 성질 동시에 갖는 신물질 물성 규명 [2012-01-17] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 7292
20 KINC LED의 새로운 발견, 형광체 없이 다양한 색깔의 빛 낸다 [2012-01-17] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 6116
19 KIITC KAIST's Smart E-book System More Convenient than Paper-based Books [2012-02-19] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 7099
18 KINC 보다 태양빛에 가까운 LED 개발 [2012-01-12] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 6936
17 KIITC 초슬림 휴대폰 나온다 [2012-01-12] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 4682
16 KIB Appointed as Head Director of the Global Frontier Program (GFP) of National Research Foundation [2012-01-12] file KAIST_INSTITUTE 2016.06.10 45375
Board Pagination Prev 1 2 Next
/ 2

KAIST 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon (34141)
T : +82-42-350-2381~2384
F : +82-42-350-2080
Copyright (C) 2015. KAIST Institute