Avoider robot design to dim the fire with dt basic mini system

Avoider robot is mean robot who is designed to avoid the block in around. Except that, this robot is also added by an addition application to dim the fire. This robot is made with ultrasonic sensor PING. This sensor is set on the front, right and left from robot. This sensor is used robot to look for the right street, so that robot can walk on. After the robot can look for the right street, next accomplished the robot is looking for the fire in around. And the next, dim the fire with fan. This robot is made with basic stamp 2 micro-controller. And that micro-controller can be found in dt-basic mini system module. This robot is made with servo motor on the right and left side, which is used to movement.

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents a prototype robot that combines basic obstacle‑avoidance behavior with a fire‑suppression capability, using the dt‑basic mini system platform. The hardware core is a Basic Stamp 2 microcontroller, which drives two servo motors for locomotion and controls a fan intended to “dim” a fire. Three PING ultrasonic distance sensors are mounted on the front, left, and right sides of the robot. Their primary function is to scan the environment, identify the direction with the greatest clearance, and steer the robot accordingly. The control algorithm reads each sensor sequentially, selects the largest distance value, and commands the appropriate servo to turn the robot toward that direction before moving forward.

After the robot has cleared obstacles, it attempts to detect fire in its vicinity. The authors assume that the same ultrasonic sensors can be used for fire detection, a premise that is technically unsound because ultrasonic waves are not sensitive to temperature or combustion gases. Consequently, the robot lacks dedicated fire‑sensing hardware such as infrared temperature sensors, flame photodiodes, or smoke detectors, which are standard in commercial fire‑suppression robots. The fan is powered through a relay driven by a digital output pin of the Basic Stamp 2, and its airflow is meant to extinguish small flames by cooling or dispersing combustion gases. No calculations of airflow rate, required cooling power, or the effect on flame dynamics are provided.

The software architecture is a simple linear loop: sensor acquisition, obstacle‑avoidance decision, servo actuation, and fire‑response activation. Because the Basic Stamp 2 operates at 8 MHz with only 2 KB of RAM, this polling‑based approach can introduce latency, especially when handling three ultrasonic readings, servo PWM generation, and fan control simultaneously. An interrupt‑driven or multitasking design would improve responsiveness and allow more sophisticated sensor fusion.

Experimental validation consists of a short demonstration in a 1 m × 1 m test arena where the robot navigates around a few blocks and attempts to extinguish a manually placed small flame. The paper, however, does not present quantitative metrics such as success rate, average time to avoid obstacles, temperature reduction achieved by the fan, or power consumption. The limited test environment does not reflect real‑world conditions like variable lighting, complex obstacles, or larger fires.

In summary, the work showcases an educational proof‑of‑concept that integrates obstacle avoidance and a rudimentary fire‑suppression function on a low‑cost microcontroller platform. While the mechanical design (servo‑driven steering) and basic sensor layout are appropriate for a teaching project, the system’s overall reliability is compromised by the inappropriate choice of fire‑detection sensors, insufficient processing resources, and an oversimplified suppression mechanism. Future improvements should include adding dedicated flame or smoke sensors, upgrading to a more capable MCU (e.g., ARM Cortex‑M series) to enable real‑time multitasking, and implementing a scientifically justified extinguishing method such as water mist or CO₂ discharge. Comprehensive performance testing with detailed data would be essential to move the prototype from a classroom demonstration toward a viable fire‑response robot.