Scientists in Germany are hard at work on an autonomous, pill-bug-like robot to be used to fight forest fires. It’s got legs like the little insect, and if the going gets too hot, it can retract them into its body. They’ll then be protected by the ceramic casing, which can withstand heat of up to 2,300 degrees.
Trucking along at 12 to 19 mph the bugbots could cover wide areas by being able to get close to the heat without getting burned. In fact, a team of merely 30 of the robots could cover an area as large as 4,400 square miles. With smoke jumping being one of the more dangerous professions out there, it’d be nice to see our forest fire fighters helped out and kept safe by some friendly robots. Unfortunately, there’s no date set for when these will actually be made a reality. [Research in Germany via BotJunkie]
