A Shark Robotics Rhyno Protect robot (left) and a Spot robot dog equipped with Covid-19 decontamination kits – Shark Robotics / Boston Dynamic
- The Marseille Fire Brigade Battalion has equipped itself with two Colossus, initially for operations to disinfect buildings against Covid-19.
- Shark Robotics has also entered into a partnership with UVGermi, a Corrèze company, to equip its Rhyno Protect robots with a UV decontamination tower.
- The American company Boston Dynamics has approached Shark Dynamics, for its part, to adapt its robot dog Spot with decontamination kits.
His intervention during the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, remains his main achievement, and suddenly placed it at the top of the list of the most successful robotics companies in Europe. Shark Robotics, based in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), had seen this Monday, April 15, 2019 his Colossus robot, acquired by the BSPP (Paris Fire Brigade), be sent to the heart of the furnace.
Equipped with a water cannon, the 500 kg machine had intervened for ten hours to cool the cathedral, while temperatures oscillated around 800 ° C inside the nave. “Above all, it came out intact, which remains the best proof that our robots work perfectly in operation,” insists Manon Vermenouze, director of communications for Shark Robotics.
A Covid tank to treat large areas
Several Sdis (Departmental Fire and Rescue Service) have since equipped themselves with the Colossus, as has the Battalion of Marseille Firefighters (BMPM). “In 2020 we acquired two Colossuses, which we named Marius and Caesar,” explains the ensign Maxime. The BMPM approached the La Rochelle company last year, to implement solutions in the fight against Covid-19.
“We have developed with Shark Robotics a Covid tank, containing a disinfectant to treat large volumes without hiring men,” continues the ensign. The product is corrosive and it takes a very long time to apply, so it is easier to send a robot equipped with this tank for four hours rather than a human alone. We intervened on import-export logistics platforms, necessary for the circulation of food or essential materials, our goal being to secure the production chains, to prevent Marseille from being blocked if the warehouses were not not disinfected. “
A totem with four disinfectant UV lamps
Shark Robotics has also equipped another of its robots, the Rhyno Protect, with a decontamination kit, developed in partnership with a Corrèze company, UVGermi, designer and manufacturer of UV reactors (ultraviolet radiation) for water treatment. , air and surfaces. “These are machines equipped with UV lamps, the property of which is to be germicidal on all types of microorganisms, at a certain wavelength,” explains Mathilde Lengreney, communications director at UVGermi.
“We relied on Shark Robotics who developed totems with four UV lamps placed on a robot which is unmanned, and which irradiates and therefore disinfects the desired part, knowing that UV does not damage any material, but that not be in contact with them when you send so much power. »Useful when there is an entire plant to be disinfected. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is also looking with an interested eye at UV Germi technology, to treat performance venues as soon as the reopening is possible.
Hand in hand with Boston Dynamics
Shark Robotics was even surprised to receive in the midst of a pandemic … an email from Boston Dynamics, the cream of global robotics, for a partnership, still within the framework of the fight against Covid-19. “They saw what we were putting in place, so they wanted to work with us, and we developed a decontamination kit for their famous Spot robot dog. »Rhyno Protect and Spot can decontaminate nearly 15,000 m2 of surface in fifteen minutes in all spaces, such as hospitals, schools, offices, etc.
Created in 2016 by Jean-Jacques Topalian, robotics engineer, and Cyril Kabbara, who spent nine years in intelligence within the Army, Shark Robotics develops several types of ground robots, in the civil security sector (robot-firefighters), defense (robot-deminers and robot-mules), industry and nuclear.
“Keep man away from risk”
“We have a whole bunch of robots in our catalog, but each of them is modular, and we can add a whole bunch of options to accomplish several missions,” specifies Manon Vermenouze. The Marseille Fire Brigade Battalion has thus equipped its two Colossus, worth more than 200,000 euros each, with all possible operational intervention modules, from water cannon to stretcher. Because the two robots obviously do other types of mission than those related to Covid-19, and also intervene on fires.
“They allow us to engage a minimum of personnel on complex and dangerous interventions, such as warehouse fires with collapsing metal structures. It was also used in a restaurant fire in the Old Port, like a huge fan, ”adds the Maxime ship sign.
“The objective of our robots is to remove man from risk” summarizes Manon Vermenouze, who reminds us that the machines are entirely made in France. “Everything is based in La Rochelle, from the machine shop where the mechanical parts are manufactured to the after-sales service. Shark Robotics currently employs around 35 people.