High-efficiency method using unmanned aerial vehicles for firefighting

Abstract

A method of fire-fighting is provided based on unmanned aerial vehicles UAV(s) launched from transporter aircrafts to deliver water or fire-retardants or any other fire-fighting materials to a location selected by the fire-fighting personnel. A capability of putting-off high intensity forest fires is provided that stems from the precision and the quantity of material that can be delivered per unit surface per unit time. After releasing the fire-fighting material(s), the UAV reaches a safe altitude from which it flies on autopilot to intercept and then proceed on a pre-programmed route to land per pre-programmed instructions on an airfield from which fire-fighting transporter(s) operate, allowing a high efficiency along the line, from loading the transporter airplanes to maximizing the quantity of material that reach the target, to minimizing the remote-pilot time and up to the recovery system that minimizes the recovery cost and it maximizes UAVs' utilization by a quick turnaround.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Patent Application entitled "High-Efficiency Method Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Firefighting" and assigned Serial No. 62 / 752,143, filed October 29, 2018. The entire contents of the aforementioned provisional applications are hereby incorporated by reference. technical field [0003] The primary intended application of the invention is aerial field fire fighting. The set of tasks described herein for the disclosed method and associated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) covers large area wildland fire response, including the suppression of high intensity fires occurring in inaccessible areas of conventional water bombardment of bushfires. Forest fire. While the present invention is described in connection with aerial fire suppression, military applications of the disclosed methods and related UAVs are specifically contemplated. Background technique ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The unmanned Kaman K-MAX helicopter may be the only success story, but this is bound to be subject to limitations associated with helicopters: e.g. capital and operating costs, payload, speed and range

[0022] Although winged UAVs have grown tremendously over the past two decades, none of the existing UAVs are adapted to the special requirements of water bombing

[0023] Using UAVs to fight wildland fires, especially high-intensity forest fires, and integrating them into a coherent operating system is a complex problem due to the many parameters and constraints

This explains why, despite the urgent need for a solution, there is none; attempted solutions focus on some needs at the expense of others, but fail to achieve a viable, practical compromise

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