Structural-fire has caused 2,640 civilian deaths and material loss of 9.7 Billion USD in the US alone in the year 2011 as per the National Fire Protection Association. Time is of the essence when it comes to tackling most of the fire incidents. The PhoeniX team proposes a cutting-edge, fully autonomous, heterogeneous, multi-agent robotic systems to collaboratively locate and extinguish the fire without any human intervention in an unknown environment. Our system comprises a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and an AGV (Automated Ground Vehicle) equipped with a thermal camera that uses image segmentation methods for detecting and localizing the fire. Our system uses depth cameras to simultaneously create a real-time 3D map of the environment and localize itself in that map. The system uses state-of-the-art algorithms to explore the environment while avoiding collisions. The UAV has roughly 20 minutes of flight time, high payload capacity (1 Kg), and improved stability that can be attributed to its DJI Matrice M210 V2 platform. Both vehicles carry extinguishing material which they can strategically deploy on the target fire. The UAV and the AGV share information of the fire location with each other to make smart decisions resulting in a timely & efficient response. The PhoeniX firefighting system attempts to push the technological boundaries to create a net positive impact on mankind. This report outlines the progress of the PhoeniX team towards building a collaborative robotic system for fire-fighting.
