robot is activated by a 3.5-KHz signal that emulates a sounding smoke detector.
This year's winner, aptly named ChromBot, came from a team of six senior robotics students at Central Connecticut State University.
The ChromBot
used an Intel 8052AH-based microcontroller to seek out and extinguish the candle. The designers programmed it with Basic52. For navigation, a Z80-based controller directed stepping drive motors. A flame-detector circuit used an infrared phototransistor as a sensor, and the extinguisher was made from a bicycle pump that contained a CO2 cartridge. Most of the electronics parts used in the ChromBot are available from Alpha Products (Fairfield, CT). Robert Thompson, the winning team's professor, estimates the ChromBot cost about $1000 to build.
Although more expensive robots are already used to perform tasks that are dangerous or impossible for humans (e.g., exploring hazardous waste sites), Thompson remains unsure of the future of robots in home fire prevention, despite the performance of the ChromBot. Unlike the contest robots, real-world robots would have to thrive in highly unstructured environments involving obstacles and stairs. The price of such a robot would be beyond most ho
me owners. "Robots are tremendous for learning how to solve problems, but don't expect that these machines will be on the market anytime soon," Thompson says. "If you really want to do this in a cost effective system, put a sprinkler system in."
Nevertheless, research continues on robots in a variety of disciplines, including home health care (see this month's BYTE interview with Haruhiko Asada). And the lessons learned by today's research might just show up in the home of the future.
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RoboCop, Meet Robo Fire Fighter
