High-capacity drone for fire-fighting

Purpose and goal

The project´s objective was to develop and demonstrate a high-capacity drone with good capacity to handle wildfire suppression with a focus on post-extinguishing during forest fires. The purpose was that such a drone, when it reaches the market, would assist landowners and rescue services helpful in, among other things, post-extinguishing by transporting water, seeking out fire hearths in the immediate area, and water bomb over embers or fire, partially autonomously and remotely controlled.

Expected results and effects

A subscale drone (ø X m) with a lifting capacity of kg has been demonstrated and a full-scale drone (ø 6 m) with a lifting capacity of 200 kg has been developed. Due to long times for component deliveries and permit processes, it has not been possible to demonstrate the flight of the full-scale drone. With a reference group of experts, operational conditions and what the drone should and must be able to do have been developed. High-capacity drones will be a complement to helicopters in forest fire fighting and e.g. transport hose, pre-water, light prescribed burns, fly in smoke and at night.

Planned approach and implementation

Project group, project layout and implementation worked well overall. Delays in prototype development occurred early in the project but proved difficult to counter, as they were mainly due to external factors. The project had a high level of confidentiality, which affected the communication. This was solved by giving the knowledge production work package a focus on high-capacity drones for forest fire fighting in general, not just around the project´s drones. Operational exercises on wildfire suppression would be a suitable continuation project, together with sensor selection.