HR4RS stamp
Albert Rose
A robot capable of detecting hot spots or toxic gases and allowing the intervention time of a fire team to be reduced in an emergency situation. It is the TFG project with which the industrial engineer, Noelia Fernández, has won the second of the Excellence Awards for Final Degree Projects awarded annually by the Official College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Madrid (COGITIM).
The former student and current researcher of the Smart E2 chair at the Rey Juan Carlos University acknowledges that it was a surprise to get the award "for the competitiveness and seniority of the participating schools". In addition, Fernández has been "happy" to be able to represent the university and very grateful for the effort made by the electronics department of the URJC to which she belongs.
About her project, the engineer explains that she designed a robot that can work autonomously or be manned by a firefighter for emergency situations. "She can detect fire and high temperatures, in addition to toxic gases, to prevent firefighters from suffering respiratory problems," says Fernández.
In addition, the robot can collect data in real time. With this information, graphs are generated that allow the firefighter manning the team to monitor the situation. The system was tested in the Alcorcón fire tower with a fire and smoke simulation.
Noelia explains that they intervened with fire and the real routes with which they usually practice. The most outstanding conclusion was that the system allowed to reduce the intervention from eight to two minutes.
Regarding her future in research, the engineer says that she continues to work in this line of work to find a robot that is economical and offers better benefits. In addition, Noelia is also part of a biomedicine project with the Alcorcón hospitals.