The Paris Fire Brigade has seen its share of logistical challenges, but the massive conflagration that consumed parts of the Notre Dame Cathedral on the night of 15 April required a fight of epic proportions. The cathedral is 856 years old and built in a style that produces it nearly structurally impossible to have a fire. The site increases as both a wildly trendy tourist attraction and a holy site for Christians. Defending this symbol of French heritage would ask all the tactical and physical power the Brigade had at its disposal—human and otherwise.
 
Soon after firefighters came at the scene, the cathedral’s large spire began to reveal signs of collapsing into the building. For onlookers, a collapse would be a devastating loss of a faith based and cultural monument; for the Paris fire brigade, it would jeopardize the lives of the more than 400 firefighters already on the scene.
 
It was time to bring in the robot.
 
Colossus, a remote-controlled firefighting automaton fashioned and made by Shark Robotics, looks a bit like an army tank—if the tank were finished fire-engine red, retrofitted with a large hose instead of a gun turret, and shrunk down to the size of a large dog. It can project water up to distances of 250 meters. With its heat- and water-resistant chassis and powerful all-terrain treads, Colossus led the way into the most dangerous areas of the cathedral, extinguishing flames and cleaning away debris that could have harmed its human operators.
 
By midmorning on the 16th, the blaze was perfectly extinguished. The cathedral’s giant spire, along with the roof and internal scaffolding, had collapsed; a nation was in mourning. But no human lives were lost, and Colossus was well on its way to being an international robot celebrity.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com