Korea Forest Service Conducts Field Test of 'Wildfire Suppression Wearable Robot'

A wearable robot for wildfire suppression will be deployed on-site to verify its performance.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 10th that the wearable robot for wildfire suppression was finally selected as a ‘2024 Innovative Product Pilot Use Product’ by the Public Procurement Service.

The Innovative Product Pilot Purchase Project is a system that helps demand institutions to pilot and verify the performance of small and medium-sized enterprise products developed through national research and development (R&D) projects by receiving budget support from the Public Procurement Service.

A user of a wearable robot for wildfire suppression is experiencing movement after wearing the robot. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

Through this project, the Korea Forest Service will receive support from the Public Procurement Service for 206 wearable robots (totaling 790 million KRW) and conduct on-site demonstrations.

In the field demonstration, the development institutions will have the opportunity to test the innovativeness of prototypes, and the manufacturing companies will receive support to pioneer initial sales channels.

Also, upon completion of the demonstration, the demand institutions will receive the products from the Public Procurement Service, resulting in budget savings.

The Korea Forest Service plans to sign a business agreement for the pilot use of innovative products with the Public Procurement Service and manufacturing companies within this month, and from the second half of this year, it will prioritize the distribution of wearable robots to the Gangwon and Yeongnam regional Forest Services, which are high-risk areas for large wildfires, to conduct on-site demonstrations.

The on-site demonstration will involve deploying wearable robots at wildfire suppression sites and forestry workplaces with high labor intensity to observe whether the physical strength and muscle fatigue of the workforce (targeting 206 people) improve when wearing the wearable robots.

Nam Sung-hyun, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “Through multifaceted demonstrations of wearable robots, we will enhance the on-site applicability of prototypes,” and added, “Ultimately, through the pilot purchase project, the Korea Forest Service will strengthen the linkage of R&D and public procurement support so that small and medium-sized, venture, and innovative companies can become a cornerstone in solving forestry sector challenges.”