Empa develops heat-resistant drone for fire brigade
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) and Imperial College London are expanding the range of applications for drones. Together, they are developing a heat-resistant drone that fire brigades can use for fire reconnaissance.
The FireDrone from Empa and the Aerial Robotics Laboratory of Imperial College in London has passed its baptism of fire: Initial tests with the flying robot, which is intended to support fire brigades in their operations, were positive, according to a media release from Empa. In Empa’s flight arena in Dübendorf, they showed that the flight characteristics and controllability of the special drone, which is around 50 centimetres tall, were “excellent” despite its special equipment. The autonomous aircraft was equipped with a new type of insulation jacket, an additional built-in cooling system and aluminium cladding.
The design, which the researchers have just published in the scientific journal “Advanced Intelligent Systems”, was convincing in this dry run. However, in order for the drone to provide the emergency services with initial information about the source of the danger, it must also be able to withstand high heat. “The extreme heat generated by a fire is too great for conventional drones to fly closer,” David Häusermann from Empa’s Sustainability Robotics laboratory is quoted as saying.
The Empa laboratory Building Energy Materials and Components was able to synthesise the insulating material with which this was also possible. It is an ultra-light aerogel made of polyimide and silica. It was also reinforced with glass fibres. The electronics, thermal imaging camera and CO2 sensors of the FireDrone prototype survived several test flights undamaged during tests with a gas fire on the training grounds of the Andelfingen training centre. Now they are also to be tested under heavy soot development.
“If a drone makes the first reconnaissance of the situation, we don’t have to send the firefighters into the danger zone immediately,” Stefan Keller, training coordinator for the fire brigade of the building insurance of the canton of Zurich, is quoted as saying. “For us, this progress is enormously interesting.”