Fire artifact: scientists have developed heat-resistant drones that can fly into the sea of fire
CTOnews.com Swiss and British scientists have teamed up to develop a heat-resistant drone that can collect and transmit data at close range from forest or building fires, providing important first-hand information for firefighters and rescuers.
At present, drones have been widely used in fire fighting and rescue scenes, such as taking aerial photos, lifting fire hoses to skyscrapers, or dropping fire extinguishing agents in remote areas to prevent forest fires from spreading. However, these drones can only fly within a safe distance from the fire source. Inside a burning building, temperatures can reach as high as 1000 degrees Celsius, and such extreme heat can cause the frames of ordinary drones to melt and electronic components to fail. Commercial drones can only take photos of fires from afar and cannot provide more information.
To allow drones to approach fire sources, researchers at Switzerland's Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and Imperial College London have developed a heat-resistant drone called FireDrone. They draw inspiration from nature and animals such as penguins and arctic foxes that survive extreme temperatures because they have a layer of fat or fur to protect them from the cold.
The heat-resistant drone uses an aerogel as insulation, an ultra-light material that consists almost entirely of air-filled pores encased in a polymeric substance. The materials researchers chose an aerogel based on polyimide plastic, which is also used by NASA for research on thermal spacesuits. For the drone itself, the scientists created a composite material composed of polyimide and silica reinforced with glass fibers.
CTOnews.com understands that a prototype of FireDrone has already undergone preliminary testing at Empa's flight site in Dubendorf, near Zurich. Empa said the flight characteristics and controllability of the approximately 50-centimeter-tall drone were still excellent after adding aerogel insulation, additional built-in cooling systems and heat-reflecting aluminum shells. FireDrone has also been successfully tested several times at its training centre in Andelfingen, canton Zurich, where drone operators fly the device directly into a gas flame in a large metal bowl. Empa's David Häusermann said: "Even after multiple flights, FireDrone's electronics, thermal imaging cameras and CO2 sensors were not damaged and further testing could continue. "
Next, the researchers will test FireDrone further in other fire scenarios. In theory, such drones could also be used in extremely cold environments, such as polar regions and glaciers. The research team has tested the flying device in a glacier tunnel in Switzerland to study how the system performs at low temperatures. A number of potential industry partners are already in discussions with the research team to further develop the prototype.
