Solar-Powered Firefighting Drones Made in Italy

Preventing wildfires through the deployment of drones constitutes an innovative approach that synergizes cutting-edge technology with established surveillance methodologies. While standard drones and multirotors can be employed for this purpose, their requirement for frequent battery replacements disrupts continuous surveillance and results in intermittent monitoring gaps. Additionally, most commercial drones lack thermal sensors, obliging operators to solely rely on visual smoke detection. This approach could be suboptimal as it may fail to identify fires in their incipient stages, characterized by limited smoke yet notable thermal fluctuations.

Firehound Zero (FH-0) is engineered to surmount these challenges. Primarily, its extensive flight endurance enables uninterrupted monitoring over expansive and high-risk zones, providing a comprehensive situational overview.

Furthermore, FH-0 comes equipped with a high-precision thermal sensor, rendering it highly adept at identifying thermal variations linked to wildfires even when negligible amounts of smoke are produced. This capability, complemented by proprietary firmware, ensures early-stage fire detection.

Moreover, unlike many competing firefighting drones, FH-0 features an active alert system. Beyond merely transmitting images to the operator, it processes these visuals in real-time and notifies the operator upon detection of a potential fire. This proactive attentiveness assures that fires can be promptly addressed, often before escalating into larger incidents. In instances of fire alerts, it is generally inadvisable to divert FH-0 from its ongoing mission—where additional fire locations might be quickly identified—to re-examine the alert site. A more effective approach involves the parallel deployment of a second drone, either a multirotor or ideally, a surveillance-specialized drone such as the Guardian [LINK], dispatched to the indicated coordinates for further assessment and coordination of the ensuing fire-extinguishing activities.

The primary distinction between FH-0 and FH-0 LTE lies in the latter’s advanced connectivity features. The FH-0 LTE firefighting drone is equipped with an integrated modem, specialized antenna, and a dedicated M2M SIM card, enabling stable and continuous connectivity over 4G network coverage. This enhanced connectivity not only ensures real-time data transmission but also provides the ability to control the drone and receive notifications over significant distances, even spanning thousands of kilometers. This integration of components adds a marginal weight increase to the drone.

Additionally, the LTE version is bundled with a state-of-the-art ultraportable laptop that serves as a redundant controller, offering an additional layer of control and an auxiliary interface for the operator.

Apart from these specific features, the structural, functional, and general characteristics of FH-0 and FH-0 LTE are substantially similar, ensuring high performance and field reliability in both configurations.

The endurance of Firehound Zero is contingent upon environmental conditions and solar light availability. Under optimal conditions with good solar exposure, Firehound Zero can operate for approximately 8 hours, owing to solar energy captured by its integrated photovoltaic panels, thereby sustaining battery charge and extending flight duration.

In conditions of complete darkness, such as nighttime, the endurance is reduced to approximately 2 hours, relying solely on internal battery capacity without the additional input from solar energy.

It should be noted that under particularly favorable conditions with excellent solar exposure, observed endurance has reached up to 10 hours. However, these performances were achieved under ideal circumstances and may vary depending on specific operational and environmental conditions.

The signaling of a fire outbreak identified by Firehound Zero is an automated and immediate process, engineered to provide the operator with essential information in the shortest time possible. Upon detecting a potential fire via its thermal sensor, Firehound Zero initiates multiple actions simultaneously:

• Audio Alarm: both the Ground Station and the laptop (if the LTE version is in use) emit an audio warning signal, “Warning Fire” designed to immediately and clearly capture the operator’s attention, even in noisy or chaotic environments.

• Coordinate Reading: following the activation of the audio alarm, the system verbally reads out the GPS coordinates of the detected fire location, providing the operator with immediate awareness of the fire’s precise location.

• On-screen Display: simultaneously, an alert message containing information about the detected fire outbreak is displayed on the Ground Station (and on the laptop if included), covering GPS coordinates and, if available, additional relevant information such as detected heat intensity.

• Navigation Map: on the real-time monitoring navigation map, an icon or marker is placed at the exact point where the fire outbreak has been identified. This provides the operator with an immediate visual reference of the affected area and allows for swift and efficient coordination of any subsequent intervention efforts.

The amalgamation of these auditory, visual, and vocal cues ensures that the operator is promptly informed and can consequently act to maximize the efficacy of firefighting and containment strategies.