An Enhanced Fire Perception Framework for Firefighting Robots: ECA-BiFPN Boosted YOLO-EB with Multi-Modal Fusion

Authors

  • Botao Ni the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China. https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8224-4548
  • Lei Huang the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
  • Ying Xiang the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
  • Yan Zhu Beijing Qingniao Fire Protection Co., Ltd., located in Zhuoxia Road Industrial Park, Zhuolu County, Hebei Province, 075600, China.  https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1981-3945
  • Lin Li Beijing Qingniao Fire Protection Co., Ltd., located in Zhuoxia Road Industrial Park, Zhuolu County, Hebei Province, 075600, China.
  • Yunfei Zhou Guangdong Transportation Vocational College, Guangzhou, 510650, China https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4268-3764
  • Jingjing Yang Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, 530006, China https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7060-6564
  • Hao Tang Collaborative Innovation Research Institute, Guangdong University of Technology, Heyuan, 517001, China

Keywords:

Firefighting robots, Flame segmentation, YOLO-EB, Binocular vision, Spectral fusion, Multi-modal perception

Abstract

To address the challenges posed by complex fire environments to flame perception and situational assessment in firefighting robots, this paper proposes a multimodal perception method integrating flame segmentation, spatial localization, and situational awareness. Based on an enhanced YOLO-EB segmentation network, this approach combines stereo vision and spectral information to achieve precise flame detection and localization. The YOLO-EB network incorporates an Efficient Channel Attention (ECA) mechanism and a Bidirectional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN) to enhance its representational capabilities, effectively balancing accuracy and real-time performance. Ablation experiments demonstrate that the synergistic effect of these modules significantly improves model performance: compared to the YOLOv8-seg baseline, the proposed model achieves a flame recall of 0.680 and a mean average precision (mAP) of 0.821. Leveraging high-quality segmentation masks, a stereo-spectral fusion perception framework is constructed, achieving precise flame localization at medium distances with an average error of 2–3%. Through dynamic fusion of spectral and visible-light features, the system attains an average situational awareness accuracy of 92.45%, significantly outperforming single-modal methods. Experimental results confirm that this integrated approach provides firefighting robots with stable and reliable capabilities for early fire detection, accurate localization, and dynamic assessment, demonstrating strong potential for practical deployment.

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Author Biographies

Botao Ni, the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.

Botao Ni is currently a Master's student at the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. His research interests include computer vision-based environmental perception, deep learning models for flame segmentation and detection, and multimodal information fusion for intelligent robotic systems in complex scenarios.

Lei Huang, the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.

Lei Huang is currently a Master's student at the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. His research focuses on the analysis of spectral signatures during combustion processes, machine learning-based identification of combustible materials, and the integration of spectral data with visual perception for enhanced fire characterization.

Ying Xiang, the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.

Ying Xiang is currently a Professor at the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. He has published over 100 research papers in international journals and conferences. His research interests include computer vision and pattern recognition, optical imaging and spectroscopy, machine learning algorithms for visual understanding, and their applications in intelligent perception systems for robotics and industrial automation.

Yan Zhu, Beijing Qingniao Fire Protection Co., Ltd., located in Zhuoxia Road Industrial Park, Zhuolu County, Hebei Province, 075600, China. 

Yan Zhu is currently a Manager at Beijing Qingniao Fire Protection Co., Ltd., Zhuolu County, Hebei, China. His work focuses on the development and deployment of advanced fire protection technologies and equipment, with expertise in fire suppression systems, firefighting robotics, and the practical implementation of intelligent safety solutions in industrial and urban environments.

Lin Li, Beijing Qingniao Fire Protection Co., Ltd., located in Zhuoxia Road Industrial Park, Zhuolu County, Hebei Province, 075600, China.

Lin Li is currently a Manager at Beijing Qingniao Fire Protection Co., Ltd., Zhuolu County, Hebei, China. He has extensive experience in fire safety engineering and has been involved in the development of firefighting robotic systems, particularly in system integration, field testing, and the translation of research innovations into operational firefighting platforms.

Yunfei Zhou, Guangdong Transportation Vocational College, Guangzhou, 510650, China

Yunfei Zhou received the Ph.D. degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. He is currently a Lecturer at Guangdong Communication Polytechnic, Guangzhou, China. His research interests include intelligent transportation systems, multi-sensor fusion for environmental perception, and the application of computer vision in traffic monitoring and autonomous navigation.

Jingjing Yang, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, 530006, China

Jingjing Yang is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Physics and Electronic Information, Guangxi University for Nationalities, Nanning, China. Her research interests include signal processing theory and applications, machine learning for remote sensing data analysis, and the development of intelligent algorithms for environmental monitoring and resource detection.

Hao Tang, Collaborative Innovation Research Institute, Guangdong University of Technology, Heyuan, 517001, China

Hao Tang is currently a Researcher at the Collaborative Innovation Research Institute, Guangdong University of Technology, Heyuan, China. His research interests include robotic perception and control, computer vision for object detection and scene understanding, and multi-sensor integration for autonomous systems in complex environments.

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Published

2026-04-09

How to Cite

Ni, B., Huang, L., Xiang, Y., Zhu, Y., Li, L., Zhou, Y., Yang, J. ., & Tang, H. . (2026). An Enhanced Fire Perception Framework for Firefighting Robots: ECA-BiFPN Boosted YOLO-EB with Multi-Modal Fusion. IEEE Latin America Transactions, 24(5), 433–444. Retrieved from https://latamt.ieeer9.org/index.php/transactions/article/view/10447