FireDrone coated with aluminium to scope out burning buildings and wildfires

FireDrone, a prototype drone developed jointly by researchers from the Imperial College London and Empa. The drones are strong enough to survive extreme temperatures and infiltrate burning structures. To reflect heat, they coated it with super-reflective aluminium. After exposure to high temperatures, the super-insulation stops the materials from shrinking and the pore architectures from deteriorating.

They constructed a protective structural casing for the drone out of lightweight, thermally super-insulating materials, including polyimide aerogel and glass fibres. The drone comprises a unique thermal aerogel insulating material and a cooling system that allows it to survive temperatures of up to 200°C for 10 minutes. The researchers think FireDrone, still in the prototype stage, might be used to scope out flames for humans and added risks to reinforce firefighting.

“Until they enter the danger zone, firefighters can’t be certain of what or who they’ll find, and what challenges they’ll encounter. FireDrone could be sent in ahead to gather crucial information – noting trapped people, building layouts, unexpected hazards – so that responders can prepare accordingly to keep themselves safe and potentially save more lives,” said Principal Investigator Professor Mirko Kovac, Director of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College London and Head of the Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics at Empa.

The FireDrone prototype drone might be launched into burning structures or wooded areas to evaluate dangers and offer vital first-hand data from hazardous zones. The information would subsequently be given to first responders to assist them in emergency reactions. The drone was tested in temperature-controlled chambers and flew near flames at a firefighter training facility. Their future efforts to miniaturise and add additional sensors to the drone could lead to its use in real-world firefighting operations, perhaps saving lives.

Although FireDrone is still at the prototype stage, the researchers claim it is a step ahead in developing other drones that can endure severe temperatures. The team is currently verifying the technology with important industry stakeholders and partners.

“The application of drones is often limited by environmental factors like temperature. We demonstrate a way to overcome this and are convinced our findings will help to unleash the future power of drones for extreme environments. Deploying robots in extreme environments provides great benefits to reducing risks to human lives, and who better to look to than animals that have evolved their own ways of adapting to these extremes using inspirating from how animals keep cool in heat,” added Professor Kovac.