Q: Tell me about some of your daily duties.
A: in charge of running fire dept managing budget hiring creating policy operating guidelines meeting standards with response and equipment community interaction
Q: What are some things that you do that are not routine?
A: responds to fires
Q: How often do you have to do the above things?
A: over 10,000 calls in a year fire and medical services to Andover 17 firefighters on duty
Q: What motivates you to do what you do?
A: wanted to help people and give back to the community
Q: Do you have any experience with robots? This can be anything from advanced robotics to household appliances like a Roomba.
A: no experience
Q: Have you ever been sent into a dangerous situation?
A: yes often
Q: If so, did you feel like if something went wrong, you could have suffered greatly? (If you are not comfortable answering this, let me know and we can skip it)
A: yes
Q: How would you feel about sending a humanoid robot in that would be controlled by you into any dangerous situation instead of you? This would allow your judgment, and instinct to be used while keeping you out of bodily harm.
A: lots of research all things to be overcome it is possible. research and development is going to take a lot of learning needs lots of time and effort
Q: Do you think a victim of a disaster situation would care if they were rescued by a robot or a human?
A: A person in distress doesn’t care. Any help is better than no help
Q: How would you compare AI to human instinct?
A: Lots of challenges to overcome so that AI can match human instinct
Q: How do you think other firefighters would feel about robotic fire fighters?
A: Vary based on the position of people and demographics and attitudes and culture people in favor of this development but also people who will resist. Lots of people losing jobs.
Q: What other situations does the fire department respond to other than fires?
A: Technical rescues, trench rescues, confined space rescues, hazardous materials, Emergency medical services, societal needs and demands fire dept responds to all hazards.
Q: How long have you been in the fire service?
A: 40 years in fire service
Q: what is it that you do in terms of sensor design?
A: proximity sensor, uses optical feedback, uses LEDs and photodetector. Timing of return. No moving parts light sent out by the sensor.
Q: In terms of mechanical design, I imagine one of my biggest challenges will be designing something robust enough to withstand extreme weather, or mechanical stress, What is the best way for me to prove my design before building.
A: mechanical simulation software, not seen in the initial model, see problems in the model. Increase beam size, resonant frequency shifts, but other problems may arise.
Q: What kind of sensors would do the best with motion tracking in order to capture the motions of a firefighter near perfectly?
A: accelerometer (XYZ) and gyroscope (rotation).
Q: When you work with mechanical design, what are some common problems that occur often with your projects?
A: sensing parts, and receiving part, input and output. Optical sensors need windows for light while protecting the sensor and need to be able to communicate and connect to mechanical parts. Challenges in materials. Special considerations for specific tasks. MEMS devices have moving parts. Materials and shapes to avoid resonant frequency