Fire Rescue Assisting Robot

Thermal Human Detection for Fire Rescue Robotics

This project explores thermal perception for human detection in smoke-filled environments, where conventional optical imaging systems are limited by poor visibility. A compact perception system was developed and evaluated for potential integration into fire rescue robotic platforms.

The Approach

The system was developed by evaluating different sensing approaches and selecting a compact thermal perception solution suitable for robotic applications. Computer vision techniques were applied to thermal data to detect human presence under challenging environmental conditions.

The developed approach was validated through live testing, including evaluation in a simulated smoke-filled environment to assess its suitability for fire rescue scenarios.

This work was later extended into a conference manuscript submitted to the IEEE International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Emerging Technologies (ICEEET), 2026.

(Wijesiriwardene & Thilakumara, 2026)