The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) research team is testing the potential of drone swarms to deal with forest fires, which have intensified globally due to the effects of climate change. This emerging technique promises to transform the response to these natural disasters.
For his part, Suresh Sundaram, a leading academic in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IISc, argues that drone swarms represent a promising solution to this growing problem. Although India has not yet seen the practical implementation of this technology, its use in other parts of the world has set important precedents.
How could swarms of drones fight wildfires?
In a recent paper for the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, Sundaram and his team propose an innovation: the coordination of multiple swarms of drones working together to effectively contain and extinguish wildfires.
The need for a rapid and effective response to fires is critical, as Sundaram explains. A single drone is not enough to fight a fire once it has been detected; it requires a swarm of drones that can communicate and collaborate with each other to collectively meet the challenge.
To achieve this goal, the team designed a special algorithm that facilitates communication and autonomous decision making within the swarm. In a fire emergency scenario, swarms equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including cameras, thermal and infrared sensors and temperature detectors, would be deployed to accurately locate and assess the fire.
Once the fire has been identified, the closest drone takes the lead, coordinating the rest of the swarm to the source of the fire. Each drone is capable of independently assessing the magnitude of the fire and deciding the number of drones needed to extinguish it, a feature highlighted by Sundaram.
The heart of this innovation lies in the swarm-based search algorithm, inspired by the hunting behavior of Oxyrrhis marina, a predatory marine organism. This approach allows the drones to adjust their search pattern efficiently, getting closer to the source of the fire for more precise intervention.
Benefits of drone swarms
The benefits of employing drone swarms are manifold, according to Sundaram. Decentralized, data-driven decision making optimizes the use of resources, ensuring that only the required number of drones are dedicated to each fire hot spot. This allows for more efficient management and assignment of drones to different tasks as needed.
Although tests have been conducted on individual components of this system, such as fire detection using artificial intelligence artificial intelligence and precise mechanisms for the release of extinguishing agents, there is still work to be done in terms of large-scale field testing. Looking ahead, the team has plans to integrate these drone swarms with unmanned ground vehicles for a more robust response to wildfires.
Additionally, the utility of these drone swarms transcends firefighting, showing promise for response to other natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Its ability to locate survivors, deliver essential supplies and facilitate communication opens new avenues for emergency management.
Likewise, the implementation of these swarms in natural disaster management could not only revolutionize how wildfires are responded to, but also how post-disaster recovery is addressed. With their ability to collect detailed data of the terrain and current conditions, these drones can play a crucial role in damage assessment, reconstruction planning and efficient aid distribution, ushering in a new era in disaster response.
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Source: techxplore.com
Photo: shutterstock
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