Hong Kong-made 'firefighting' robots catch the attention of tech giant IBM

A Hong Kong-based start-up, Insight Robotics, has proven that there is a smarter way to detect wildfires no matter how small, using an automated system.

Rex Sham Pui-sum of Insight Robotics poses next to a robot equipped with a wildfire detection system. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Wildfires in the United States, Australia and other countries are not only getting larger, but are causing more economic and human damage.

Manned watchtowers, close-circuit television, satellite infrared sensing systems and automatic smoke detectors have so far been either inadequate or too costly for the job of spotting uncontrolled fire in forests and the countryside.

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