Researchers at the University of Magdeburg-Stendal in Germany are coming close to replacing the poster-animal of fighting forest fires from Smokey the Bear to a robot beetle. The OLE beetle would be used to patrol a large area of forest on its own using infrared and biosensors to detect fires in their early stage. Once detected OLE can move towards the fire as fast at 20km/hour depending on the terrain to report the location of the fire and attempt to put it out using an impulse appliance.

OLE is designed from the pill millipede which can roll itself into a protective ball. Should OLE be overcome with the fire it can roll itself into a ball and retract its legs and withstand temperatures of up to 1,300 degrees centigrade without damaging the internal equipment. The researchers estimate that a 7,000 square foot forest area could be protected by 30 of the fire fighting beetles.

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