Source: OSU
Ohio State University researchers use autonomous drones to prevent and contain forest fires.
As the ongoing fires in the United States attest, forest fires are difficult to predict and fight. Flames can travel up to 15 mph in dry grass and spread in unexpected directions.
An OSU team, led by Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Mrinal Kumar, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the flying robot system.
Eastern forecasts
The “Integration of Autonomous UAS in Wildland Fire Management” project is developing real-time situational awareness using drones to monitor the intensity and spread of forest fires. The results are expected to help fire-fighting experts understand how topographical, atmospheric and forest fuel factors in deciduous forests of temperate climates influence fire intensity and spread rate through real-time data activation in fire behavior models.
“While most of the research on technology use in forest fires has focused on fires in the west, we are focusing on the eastern US, hopefully ahead of the increasing intensity projected over the next few years,” said Kumar.
“Wildland fires are an ideal framework to develop autonomous, risk-aware decision-making in unstructured and unsafe hazardous environments,” he added.
“This isn’t just an isolated fly,” said team member Amit Sanyal, a professor at Syracuse University. “Hot air from fires and various air currents are induced. Sensors also have to deal with smoke, ash, and burning or burning leaves. “
Kumar’s team will escort the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ mandatory incineration team into the forests of southern Ohio, led by Greg Guess of the Forestry Department. Prescribed burns are typically performed late in the fall or early spring, when fuel and weather conditions are conducive to controlled combustion. The drones will undergo rigorous testing and validation, resulting in fully autonomous mission design and deployment in these mandatory burns and ultimately forest fires.
The $ 1.4 million grant comes from the NSF’s National Robotics Initiative 3.0 program. Kumar’s co-investigators include Roger Williams and Sanyal, Ohio State Associate Professor of Forest Ecosystem Analysis and Management.
Fighting fires with drones
Earlier this year, the Spanish University of Toledo teamed up with the European provider of LiDAR solutions for drones, Routescene, to assess the severity and spread of a forest fire in the Spanish province of Albacete. The results showed that UAV LiDAR data provided environmentally meaningful metrics that can be used to predict fire risk, develop more accurate, site-specific fire impact studies, and create post-fire management plans.
Last year, the FAA granted Portland-based Skyward a temporary exemption that allows the company’s pilots to fly Percepto Sparrow drones from their homes to inspect critical communications infrastructures near the Big Hollow forest fire in Washington.
A current paper by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DIME) at the University of Genoa suggests the use of swarms of drones to fight widespread forest fires:
“A swarm of drones with a sliding maintenance platform could be deployed immediately, which allows for a quick response and can be deployed both day and night in all visibility conditions without the need for an available pool of water nearby. Please note that in most countries fire-fighting aircraft only fly during the day for safety reasons and, due to the distance to a water filling station, can carry a limited number of water droplets per hour. “
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