Are there really beetles which can fight forest fires? Not yet, but there will be soon. At Magdeburg-Stendal FH researchers are developing the off-road, fire-fighting beetle, OLE, which is destined to extinguish fires before they can turn into disasters. OLE is supposed to monitor large areas of forest with the help of infrared and biosensors, discover fire sources and immediately report and fight them. Scientists have constructed the robot fire-fighting beetle on the pattern of the pill millipede, an insect belonging to the centipede family. Just like centipedes OLE can roll up into a ball when danger threatens and retract its six legs. Its heat-resistant shell is made of a ceramic-fibre compound which can withstand temperatures of 1,300???aural:Bildanfang???
Robotic fire fighting beetle Source: Background photo: photocase.com/rendering and montage: Henner Hinze/photographer: Gordon Adler, transluszent
On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane completes construction of one of the towers in the new lightning protection system for the Constellation......