"Habot-mini," an innovative miniature fire truck produced by Morita Holdings Corporation based in Osaka and Tokyo, was awarded the "iF DESIGN AWARD" in the "Professional Concept" section of the world-renowned German design award. Habot-mini is a miniature model of a fire truck that extinguishes flames with nitrogen and without using water.

The iF DESIGN AWARD, granted every year by iF International Forum Design (based in Hannover, Germany), features industrial products from around the globe and is one of the most prestigious design awards. In 2016, there were a total of 5,295 entries from 53 countries around the world. After careful examinations carried out by 58 jurors consisting of national experts, high marks were given to Habot-mini.

With the design concept of being a "future fire truck," Habot-mini does not use any water to put out flames. Instead, it generates and then discharges nitrogen-enriched air (NEA) by sucking in the ambient air and removing the oxygen it contains to increase the nitrogen concentration. The oxygen concentration in the NEA is lowered to12.5%, which is a level that causes no harm to the human body when exposed for a short time, but which does not allow flames to burn. Since the ambient air serves as Habot-mini's raw material for fire-extinguishing operations, it does not need to store water or fire-extinguishing agents. It can continue working for a long time in a disaster site, maintaining a low oxygen concentration environment and creating a "space where things cannot burn."

The new fire truck is ideal for firefighting in places that are at risk of suffering secondary damage from water used in firefighting operations, such as computer rooms, data centers, museums and libraries.

Habot-mini's special site: http://www.morita119.com/en/products/habot-mini/index.html

iF DESIGN AWARD's official site: http://ifworlddesignguide.com/

Source: Morita Holdings Corporation