Real-time reconstruction of indoor ground surfaces in occluded environments filled with smoke based on point clouds obtained using LiDAR

With the current transition towards renewable and high-tech solutions, the world is becoming increasingly complex. Consequently, the challenges faced by firefighters also intensify. For that reason, firefighting robots are rising in popularity despite being far from perfect. An important area of improvement is the perception capabilities of...

The Vehicle Routing Problem for Aerial Firefighting

Optimizing the routes of firefighting aircraft can reduce the time it takes to contain wildfires and make sure they remain within control. In this paper, a novel formulation of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is developed to improve aerial firefighting operations by optimizing aircraft routes. The formulation is a capacitated split delivery...

Optimization of firefighting strategies in process plants with emphasis on domino effects and safe evacuation

Effective firefighting and evacuation are integral parts of emergency response plans in process plants, which play a key role in protecting human lives and assets in the event of major fires. Given sufficient firefighting resources, firefighters would suppress all the burning vessels and cool off all the exposed vessels in order to contain the...

Resilience-based optimal firefighting to prevent domino effects in process plants

Domino effects triggered by fire can cause extremely severe damages to the chemical and process plants. In the need of a more effective prevention of fire domino effects, the present study focuses on firefighting which has received less attention compared to passive and active fire protection systems. Considering both the vulnerability and...

A Graph Theoretic Approach to Optimal Firefighting in Oil Terminals

Effective firefighting of major fires in fuel storage plants can effectively prevent or delay fire spread (domino effect) and eventually extinguish the fire. If the number of firefighting crew and equipment is sufficient, firefighting will include the suppression of all the burning units and cooling of all the exposed units. However, when...

QuantiFire Smart Technology for Future Firefighters

This report aims to analyse the possibilities of smart technology for firefighters and how it can be used to make the firefighter department more efficient and safe. The analysis phase focussed on exploring firefighters’ needs and the characteristics of their culture. Besides that, the technological opportunities were investigated, aiming to...

Designing for social configurations: Pattern languages to inform the design of ubiquitous computing

In this paper we present our approach for informing the design of ubiquitous computing by using pattern languages of human practice. By linking ethnography and design, this approach makes it possible to tackle the social dimension of ubiquitous computing in the design processes. Adding to the existing research on patterns of human practice for...

A pattern language of firefighting frontline practice to inform the design of ubiquitous computing

Designing computing systems for frontline firefighting is an open challenge. As of today, little computing support exists for such hazardous environments and designers struggle to build appropriate systems that fit the complex configuration on the frontline. Following Christopher Alexander’s understanding, design is about producing living...