Semi-autonomous indoor firefighting UAV

Fire is one of the critical problems that have not been solved yet despite the technological development. Human losses are the most important aspect related to fires. Since it may be impossible to prevent fire from occurring, it would be helpful to minimize its impact in terms of human losses. The fact that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can handle dangerous and risky tasks as well as their fast and efficient performance allows them to be used in fire related problems such as entering and exploring disastrous zones. Hence, an indoor fireproof unmanned aerial vehicle that enables searching for survivors and locating them in minimal time is developed. The UAV is designed such that it can fly while carrying a fire extinguisher. Cameras are mounted on the UAV such that the person in control of the UAV is able to view the environment. In this way, the safety of firemen is ensured, since they know exactly where to go.

I. Introduction

Many lives are lost due to fire incidents every year. This is a significant problem that must be addressed because nothing is as important as protecting a human. When a fire in any building happens, people might be trapped inside the building and cannot escape because of the flames, smoke, and/or heat. Many die because they panic, while others die as a result of suffocation due to the lack of oxygen. Firemen alone cannot prevent these tragic consequences of fire from happening. Firemen first need to put off the fire to be able to locate any survivors, which sometimes takes longer time than the victim can endure in such conditions.