STRATFORD, Conn. — At the same time parts of Connecticut are facing forest fires, a pioneering state company is testing out autonomous helicopters that can lift off, find the location of a fire, and drop water on it to put it out.
Sikorsky, a leader in wingless aircraft, demonstrated how an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter could be used to fight fires late last month. Along with Rain, a leader in autonomous aerial wildfire containment technology, the companies combined forces to demonstrate how the helicopter would work putting out the fires at a meeting in Stratford.
Representatives from NASA, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Orange County Fire Authority and others attended the demonstration as part of a two-day wildlands firefighting meeting, according to a press release.
"With Rain’s wildfire mission software loaded onto the aircraft and a tablet, wildland firefighters in the field could deploy autonomous Black Hawk or Firehawk helicopters to search and attack wildfires before they spread out of control,” said Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations’ rapid development/prototyping group.
“Wildfires cost the United States over $390 billion annually, and multiple risk factors are set to grow up to 30% by 2030," said Maxwell Brodie, Rain CEO. We look forward to demonstrating to lawmakers how autonomous aircraft can stop fires from breaking out, or continue the fight into the night, and in turbulent and smoky conditions, where crewed aircraft wouldn’t venture.”
According to the release, "During the 30-minute flight demonstration, guests used a tablet to command the Black Hawk aircraft to take off, search and find the fire, then drop water from a Bambi Bucket slung 60 feet beneath the aircraft. Each of three successive water drops extinguished a 12-inch diameter propane-fueled fire ring emitting a 3-to-6-inch-tall flame, demonstrating the precision of the Rain fire perception and targeting capability. The Rain system also rapidly adjusted the flight path to account for an 8-to-10-knot crosswind during each water drop."
Sikorsky is building autonomous helicopters for a variety of purposes, including military uses.
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.
