COLOSSUS from the point of view of a Slovak firefighter

Rightfully proud of the title of the most versatile firefighting robot on the market. Robot COLOSSUS is becoming more and more popular among fire departments around the world. To help and protect their firefighters, it has already been purchased by congregations from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Israel, Hong Kong and Argentina.

(Also) Team Player

COLOSSUS can perform support tasks as part of a fire team, but also independently. As part of the firefighting team, he can move together with the firefighters both outdoors and indoors. In this way, it can support firefighters in various ways, for example:

Carry a load up to 500 kg (hoses, tools, rescue equipment…) which saves the firemen’s strength especially for longer distances (garages, tunnels, difficult terrain or long-term interventions) and the firefighters have more energy for the intervention itself and saving life and property
Transport the stretcher with the person lying down, which again saves firemen’s forces. Previously, 4 firefighters were needed to carry a stretcher with an injured person, this way only one firefighter controlling the robot is needed to transport an injured person
It can pull, push, remove obstacles (up to a weight of 1000 kg) using a controllable front bumper or a winch, which can greatly help firefighters with creating an access road, especially in the interior, for example in underground garages
It can be used for ambient lighting using LED lighting with a combined output of 28,000 lumens, which improves the orientation of firefighters in a dark or smoky environment and thus increases the safety of intervention

However, the advantages of the robot stand out above all in independent intervention. In situations where the intervention space is too dangerous, the COLOSSUS robot is the most suitable helper. He, with his equipment, can conduct an initial survey and find out the real level of danger. It thus collects the necessary information for the response commander, who then decides whether he can send firefighters to the area and what real dangers and tasks await them there. COLOSSUS can use various rotating and positional cameras, a thermal camera and dangerous gas and vapor detectors for such research.

The robot is powered by electric motors with a battery life of up to 12 hours. This allows him to intervene even in closed spaces without the danger of contamination by exhaust fumes from the combustion engine. In combination with the dimensions of the robot (length x width x height – 170 x 78 x 76 cm) it is an ideal balance between power, weight and dimensions. In the interior, the COLOSSUS will pass through doors with a minimum width of 78 cm. It can climb stairs with a maximum incline of 40° and overcome obstacles up to 30 cm high. With its own weight of 500 kg, the dexterous robot can get where even the firemen go. We wrote here about its features.

He is already famous in the metropolis of France

The COLOSSUS was used first by the firefighters from Paris. They collaborated with the manufacturer Shark Robotics to test and improve the first model already in 2018. Today, the Paris fire department uses up to 5 COLOSSUS robots with various accessories. The most famous deployment of this robot in Paris was during the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in April 2019. More than 400 firefighters fought the fire, but despite the enormous deployment, it was necessary to use a robot inside the cathedral, as part of the roof structure collapsed. Other parts were in danger of collapsing. Due to the heat, which reached up to 800°C, the lead parts of the structure that held the wooden beams of the roof melted. That’s why COLOSSUS was deployed to extinguish and cool the interior of the cathedral, which performed a total of 10 hours of intervention. After extinguishing the debris and cooling the interior of the cathedral and the roof with a water cannon and surveying the roof structure with cameras, it became clear which interior areas could safely be sent to firefighters and which could not.

Good equipment – the basis of success

The standard equipment of the robot is a water gun with a maximum output of 3000 l/min, with which firefighters can carry out an intervention. The robot can also be equipped with CBRN detectors for the measurement of dangerous gases and vapors, which again increases the safety of responding firefighters by early warning. Its equipment may also include an overpressure fan or a supply of compressed air for breathing for firefighters or rescued persons. A thermal camera can also be useful – it helps firefighters to orientate and search for people in a smoky environment or to search for hidden sources of fire. Although the COLOSSUS robot looks like a small tank, its task is to protect people’s lives and property. Its dexterity combined with its utility and ease of use therefore make it a firefighter’s helper that can play a key role in dangerous situations.