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A Search and Rescue Robot? What do you think?
I recieved an email a few days ago advertising this new toy. There is more information at the above site if you are interested in purchasing one of these little guys. I want to know what you think though. What would be the pros and cons of using a search "robot?" Sounds expensive and easily breakable to me, and what fun would it be if we let a robot do all the searching for us?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Doug on
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I can see it having it's use on a Hazmat or WMD incident, but it doesn't appear to be practical for everyday situations.
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Permalink Reply by larry jenkins on
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I agree with Mike and Doug. On the fire ground you don't have time to set this thing up. The search needs to be done now, not 5 minutes from now. Even if it was used on the fireground you would still have to send firefighters in to make the rescue, which would delay the rescue even more. Plus it looks pretty fragile, not fireman proof.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Looks like a nice toy.
But I agree with the others. It would have very limited uses.
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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I can see where such a device might have applications. As previously mentioned, HazMat is one, and a massive structure collapse(read WMD) would be another. But, (IMHO) this money could be better spent on filling the many holes we already have in our ToE. But in an ideal world where my department has piles of extra cash lying around, I'd love to have one!
TCSS
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Permalink Reply by Station10Capt106 on
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Man, I could've had a ton of fun with that thing back in college, but on the fireground I think it's use is limited. As mentioned for Hazmat or bomb situations it could be usefuly but the mobility in collapse and debris filled scenarios seems a little limited.
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Kali,
While I haven't seen this thing in action, I would guess it has pretty good mobility in these situations. Otherwise it really has limited applications.
And regardless, even if the thing can scramble around like a rat on meth, I have a laundry list of things I could spend this money on first.
I'd say one good app would be if you needed to recon a hostile situation(deranged patient, etc.) prior to the SO showing up. But we stage a good distance away from these calls until the scene is secured, so it would prolly be a better toy for LE.
Maybe reconning a crawlspace for fire extension? Or an attic for that matter.
I guess what I'm saying is that if we had one, we could probably find uses for it. But I have a feeling that our station would use it more for spying on each other more than anything else!
TCSS
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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
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Hey Kali
Regarding reconning the crawlspace or attic - So you would have to have a firefighter carry it up the ladder (how is that safer?) and then use it?
Well it says in the article that: Armed with this throwable, tetherable device first responders can quickly conduct initial reconnaissance within confined or dangerous spaces by directing the Rescue device to move through the environment and transmit live video of the scene to front line personnel and commanders."
So hell, just chuck it up into the attic and let the frontline personel look after it and when it's done, just haul back on the tether to get it back.....lol.
Thought I saw a "Fisher Price" label on there
.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin J. Millis on
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And "throwable"? So, you throw this into a hole and then what? Oh yeah, send a person to retrieve it - or you can buy another one
HAHAHAHAHA
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Performance
• Indoor Range (NLOS) Test to: 100 ft/30m
• Outdoor Range (LOS) Tested to: 300 ft/91m
• Speed: 1.5 fps/0.46mps
• Drop Shock Resistance: 30 ft/9.1m
• Throw Shock Resistance: 120 ft/31.4m
(maximum arc of 30’)
Mechanical Specifi cations
• Length: 7.4 in/18.8cm
• Width (wheel to wheel): 8.0 in/20.3cm
• Height: 4 in/10.2cm
• Weight: 1.2lb/554g
Image Sensor
• Black and White
• IR Illumination: 25 ft/7.62m
• Field of View: 60 degrees
• Frame Rate: 30fps
Run Time
• Scout on Flat Terrain: 60 min.
(varies on uneven terrain)
• OCU: 120 min.
Operator Control Unit
• Height (with antennas):
20.75in/52.7cm
• Width: 3.5in/8.9cm
• Weight: 1.74lbs/790g
• Screen Size: 3.5in/8.9cm
Here are the specs on this little guy (who called it a rat on meth? HAHA that was funny!) After searching the "recon-scout" website for awhile, I failed at finding any price tag which tells me ITS EXPENSIVE!!!! I have to agree with everyone else in saying that it has the potential to work well in hazmat situations but seriously, how often does your dept. respond to a hazmat call? I have been on for three years and we had one tanker spill in which case we shut down the road and waited for the county wide Hazmat team to clean that crap up. I just cannot see this working on a firescene.
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Kali,
I humbly bow to the more prepared...
I have only seen some of the 'bots you mentioned in videos and have no hands-on, and your points are all valid. I think the only advantage this thing has over anything else I've seen is that it is small enough to toss into a space and ?easily? retrieved to re-toss or remove.
Are there better ways to do what it does? I would agree "Yes". But maybe with the feedback they get, then next generation, or the one after that, could turn this in to a viable tool.
I mean, that's sort of how Windows does it. Keep re-building it until it works...
TCSS
Reg
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