US Patent 10286239 Fire apparatus piercing tip ranging and alignment system

A fire-fighting vehicle includes a boom assembly movably coupled to a chassis, a penetrating nozzle coupled to the boom assembly, an actuator that moves the penetrating nozzle relative to the chassis, and a controller operatively coupled to a sensor. The penetrating nozzle includes a piercing tip and an outlet configured to be selectively fluidly coupled to a supply of fire suppressant. The piercing tip is repositionable between a first position spaced from a surface of an object and a second position within an interior cavity of the object. The outlet supplies fire suppressant into the interior cavity when the piercing tip is in the second position. The sensor provides data relating to at least one of a position and an orientation of the piercing tip relative to the surface. The controller determines an angular orientation of the piercing tip relative to the surface based on the data.