Autonomous firefighting helicopters could save some firefighters lives…
Every year during the dry summer months, large parts of the country (especially the Western Cape) fall prey to vicious bushfires. Whether started by evil-doers or a result of a badly-timed braai on a windy day, the fires pose a huge threat to everyone involved. It’s often a losing battle, but firefighters put their lives at risk and do their best every time.
Hendrik Willem Marais attempted a forced landing in 2015 which ultimately resulted in his death. He was a ‘Working on Fire’ helicopter pilot. The helicopter was part of a team of two helicopters and a spotter plane on their way to fight a fire in the Cape Point Nature Reserve. Mr. Marais was one of the pilots lauded for exceptional work that week. Over 2000 drops were made (each of about 1100 litres) on the fire that started near Muizenberg and quickly spread to Noordhoek, Hout Bay, Tokai and Constantia. To pilot a helicopter during blazes such as these requires exceptional skill and focus. Imagine if we could remove the pilot altogether, and send off the helicopter to fight fires all on its own?
Enter the K-Max, Lockheed Martin’s pilotless helicopter
(You can read more about Lockheed Martin here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin)
This helicopter was originally meant to be deployed in the midst of combat. It is now being repurposed to fight the large, destructive blazes that wreak havoc in fire-prone locations such as California.
Being a combat helicopter, it is capable of lifting off when heavily laden, with up to 2.7 tons of cargo at sea level. Perfect when required to carry an awful lot of water. Such as the amount needed for dumping on blazing fires below.
The K-Max autonomous chopper flew to a lake recently to demonstrate its skills. It managed to fill a bucket of water and flew to a specific site. With the help of a Quadcopter drone known as Indago, it knew where to fly. The drone passed the coordinates of the fire to the K-Max. The Indago drone had already used infrared and visible light cameras to locate the fire.
Then, the K-Max dropped a ‘line’ of water. A technique used by firefighting pilots to prevent an actual fire from spreading further. And it didn’t just do it right once – it continued doing so over and over. It refilled the bucket and returned to the correct spot each time.
Photo by: LOCKHEED MARTIN
Lockheed Martin hasn’t announced exactly when the K-MAX will be ready to start fighting fires just yet. However, it can’t be too far off. Of course, the chances of this happening on local soil is a pie in the sky at this stage.
These choppers are also able to rescue people with the assistance of drones. Read more about this modern firefighting marvel here: https://www.wired.com/2016/11/lockheed-martin-kmax-sara-indago-firefighting-drones/
