Ivan Miranda’s Firefighting Robot — of the Future!

For his latest project, Ivan Miranda has tried to envision what firefighting will be like in 30 years with a small 3D-printed vehicle. While his vision may or may not come true, it’s an entertaining build that shows off a few interesting techniques that are available to us today.

His wheeled firefighting robot is controlled by a traditional RC transmitter, which sends a signal to an Arduino Uno via an onboard receiver. The Uno then activates four windshield wiper motors using a pair of DC drivers. This allows for steering like a tank, and due to the high torque and relatively low price of this type of motor, this type of motor can be a great option for demanding robotics applications. Firefighting is handled by a small water container, a pump, and tubing, activated via an Arduino-controlled solid-state relay, or SSR.

The result is a vehicle that — as shown around 14:00 in the video below — can put out a fire, if only a very small one. While you would still want to call your fire department when in trouble, one could imagine a swarm of smaller autonomous firefighting drones driving or swooping in to help quench blazes in the future.