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Carnegie Mellon developing drones to fight wildfires

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The brown haze that settled over Pittsburgh and other US cities last summer was merely an irritant to most residents, but for researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI), it was a reminder of why they are developing drones to help fight wildfires.

The smoke was generated by record-breaking wildfires in Canada. Over the course of the summer, the fires burned an area roughly the size of North Dakota and caused at least six deaths, including those of four firefighters.

Andrew Jong, who recently completed his master’s degree in robotics in the School of Computer Science and is now pursuing his PhD, says autonomous drones promise to provide firefighters with situational awareness of these fires, which can range over thousands of acres and are subject to rapid, weather-related changes in direction and intensity.

Seeing through dense smoke is one of many challenges firefighters face and poses a hurdle to using drones. [Read more…] about Carnegie Mellon developing drones to fight wildfires

CMU Robotics Institute develops system to detect and fix problems in gas pipelines

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Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute are developing a modular robot that can creep inside natural gas pipelines to map where pipes are, detect decrepit or leaking pipes, and, when necessary, repair the pipe by applying a resin coating along its inner wall.

“We don’t even know where all the old pipes are,” says Howie Choset, the Kavčić-Moura Professor of Computer Science, who directs the project in the Biorobotics Lab with research scientist Lu Li.

The confined spaces of pipes, largely inaccessible to people, are a natural place to deploy robots. Over the years, CMU researchers and spinout companies have developed a number of schemes and robots for inspecting sewer, gas distribution and nuclear power plant pipes. [Read more…] about CMU Robotics Institute develops system to detect and fix problems in gas pipelines