CORD — Firefighting drones for the floors a ladder can’t reach · ETH Zürich
ETH Focus Project · Research prototype
Firefighting drones · ETH Zürich
Fighting fires above the ladder.
CORD is two drones connected by a single cable to a fire truck. The cable carries power, water, and data — so the drones never run out. We’re nine engineering students at ETH Zürich, and we’re building it as a research prototype to find out whether the idea actually works.
Status CORD is a research prototype under development. Numbers on this site are design targets, not delivered specifications.
In plain English · No robotics jargon
What is CORD, in 30 seconds?
Above roughly 30 metres, a normal ladder truck can’t reach. From outside, fire crews can spray water at the building, but they can’t get a hose into the room where the fire is. CORD is our take on closing that gap, which is without risking firefighter’s lives.
01
The fire is on a high floor
Above ~30 metres, ladder trucks stop. Crews can spray from outside, but getting a hose into the room is hard.
02
A truck on the street pumps
The fire engine sends water and electricity up a single thick cable — like a normal hose, but smarter, because it also carries data.
03
Two drones fly up
One drone holds the cable so it doesn’t drag the other one down. The second drone carries the hose and the camera.
04
The hose enters the window
The lead drone points water at the fire from inside. The operator stays at the truck and watches through the camera.
Why a cable, not batteries: a battery drone can fly for ~20 minutes and can’t carry a continuous water supply. A cable solves both problems at the same time. The trade-off is that the cable has to be managed — which is what the second drone is for.
Mai 2026
The CORD vision.
Tethered dronesETH Focus ProjectResearch prototypePower · water · data through one cableBuilt at ETH ZürichTethered dronesETH Focus ProjectResearch prototypePower · water · data through one cableBuilt at ETH Zürich
Watch the team at work
Test footage, not animations.
Everything in the gallery is real hardware on a real test pad.
We’re looking for partners interested in tethered robotics, fire-service R&D, or anything to do with operating safely at height. We can offer transparent technical exchange and an engineering talent pipeline of nine ETH graduates finishing in June 2026.
