A German-Czech EU pilot project combining drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and modern sensor technology was demonstrated in Germany on Wednesday, with the system set to support fire services in future with the early detection of forest fires.
Participants of the CTRL-F project demonstrated the system's capabilities in the Neubäuer Forest near Roding in eastern Bavaria, which is serving as a test region.
Sensors for detecting fire gases have been fitted to trees in the forest for this purpose. At a permanently installed drone station - a sort of drone garage - a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera is ready for take-off around the clock.
This drone can either be alerted by the sensors, take off on regular patrol flights, or be launched by the fire service at the click of a mouse to assess the situation, project leader Stefan Geißelsöder, a professor at Ansbach University of Applied Sciences, explained.
While flying to the reported fire location, the drone transmits live camera footage, which is analysed in real time by AI.
The aim of the three-year project is, following the test phase in the Cham district, to deploy four drones in the German-Czech border area of the Bavarian Forest and the Bohemian Forest from early next year.
Project partners include the start-ups NeuralDrones and KI64, as well as the Czech company DronySIT, the Cham district and its fire services.