This week’s Smart City roundup features an upcoming conference for smart building initiatives, a partnership for smart grid and smart meter solutions, and firefighting robots

The Navy’s firefighting robot

Naval vessels are armed with heavy fire power and sometimes even nuclear weapons. Suffice to say that a fire on these types of ships can be disastrous and difficult to put out when sailing rough waters. This is what brought the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to research and develop the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR).

The SAFFiR prototype was demoed at the Naval Future Force Science & Technology EXPO, which showed the robot’s ability to traverse uneven floors, use thermal imaging to identify overheated equipment and use a hose to extinguish a small fire aboard the decommissioned Navy vessel USS Shadwell.

SAFFir is fitted with infrared stereovision, rotating laser for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and is programmed to handle a hose on its own, but as it is still a prototype, it requires takes commands from researchers manning the computer console.

“We set out to build and demonstrate a humanoid capable of mobility aboard a ship, manipulating doors and fire hoses, and equipped with sensors to see and navigate through smoke,” said Dr. Thomas McKenna, ONR program manager for human-robot interaction and cognitive neuroscience. “The long-term goal is to keep Sailors from the danger of direct exposure to fire.”

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Ericsson and Landis+Gyr team up for smart grid solutions

Energy management solutions provider Landis+Gyr has partnered with technology communications and services provider Ericsson to aid the Middle East’s Smart Metering and Smart Grid projects.

The main goal of the partnership is to create smart energy networks that would allow large amounts of data to be managed. This is expected to result in more efficient grid and energy consumption management and the realization of seamless integration of micro-generated, renewable energy sources.

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Smart Building Conference 2015

The Integrated Systems Europe 2015 event kicks off February 10-12, 2015 at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre. If you’re interested in learning more about smart building initiatives, head onto the the Amsterdam RAI on February 9 for the Smart Building Conference. The show will shed light onto the future of AV business and will feature keynotes, plenary sessions and twin tracks that cover both residential and commercial smart building.

The full-day conference will feature over 20 expert speakers and panelists such as Avi Rosenthal, Board Member of Z-Wave Alliance and VP Security & Control for Nortek Security and Control, Paul Williams, VP of Lighting & Comfort Products, Control4, Gabi Shriki, VP, HDBaseT Ecosystems Development, Valens while an exclusive keynote will be delivered by Rogier van der Heide, Chief Design & Marketing Officer of Zumtobel Group, Austria.

photo credit: littlelostrobot via photopin cc