Would you want to be saved by THIS? Video of the U.S. Navy's terrifying 'robot fireman'

Robot 'sees' with infrared camera and has built-in hose

Can take commands from team-mate via sign or text

Octavia the robot can trundle through flames, taking instructions in sign language from a human handler - and put out fires with a compressed air/water hose.



There is just one problem - who would want to be saved by a robot that looks like an evil doll come to life?



Octavia was unveiled by the U.S. Navy's research wing, and is built to work alongside human firefighters - using infrared cameras to interpret 'see'. She can also receive voice commands.



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The Octavia firefighting robot is built to work with human team-mates, and has a backpack of pressurised air and water

The robot can understand sign language and is built to work 'shoulder to shoulder' with human team-mates

'Even in peacetime, fires represent one of the greatest risks to the U.S. Naval Fleet,' says the U.S. Navy's Naval Research Laboratory.

Octavia is built to work with a human team-mate - and is built to recognise trusted individuals, and take command from those.



In the video, the robot recognises and takes commands from a team-mate, responding to both gestures and voice commands.



The Navy says the robot is built for 'shoulder-to-shoulder' damage control.



'The human is able to provide situational information to the robot by voice and gestural commands,' says the U.S. Navy. 'Here, the human partner is telling Octavia the general location of the fire before she enters the compartment.



'Using two infrared cameras, Octavia is able to localize the fire, allowing her to target it with the compressed air/water backpack.'

The Navy admits that the robot still needs some fine tuning.



Using two infrared cameras, Octavia is able to localize the fire, allowing her to target it with the compressed air/water backpack

Good robot? In the video, the robot recognises and takes commands from a team-mate, responding to both gestures and voice commands

Specifically, the Navy aims to make Octavia interact more 'naturally' with team mates - and to make the robot better at recognising what is and isn't a fire.



Whether this includes making her face slightly less unnerving remains to be seen.



'Ongoing work is focused on improving the naturalness of the interactions so that the human partners can interact with the robot as if it were another human teammate,' says the Navy.