Perfection does not come on day one

Hello again! Time for another rant. Something I have worked on (in my head) for a few years.

Fire drones. Yes, I know. They are starting to arrive on the scene. But last year, during a period of intense fires and disasters, I looked into where we are with the technology. And it’s not where I expected it to be.

Let’s start with the problem. Fire! Is that the only problem? Well, no. It has a lot of issues associated with it, for instance Smoke.

Ok, lets set the scene as a small forest fire and let’s work the problem. We have to deal with the fire and all of the side effects. Unlike medicine which fixes the side effects while the body deals with the “fire” (in many cases), we need to have a solution that can be expanded to (not initially created to) deal with all aspects.

There is already technology that can find and alert of fires. So, let’s say we have that.

Step 1 – send in the scouts. We need boots on the ground. This should be as easy as sending in an advanced drone (automatically based on the location of said drone and capabilities). Let’s get the weather conditions in real time as well, we can use that to determine direction and speed. We can even direct different scouts based on their location to utilize multiple teams of swarms, in an coordinated effort.

Step 2 – call in the cavalry. With the positioning and environmental information in hand, we are prepared to call in trucks, fitted with tens of thousands of drones. Along side them come tankers, specially fitted with refill stations and battery drops (drops battery and gets a new one automatically as it fills). When I say “fills” we need to determine “what” we use. And this is most likely a staged process as well. We can also use sound – to put out fires. Something to explore. With coordination we ensure a drone fighting in the same location all the time (one arrives and one leaves).

Step 3 – Initiate the plan. Now, the plan is made by the use of AI, reading real time data from boots on the ground and making decisions. Let’s start with creating a barrier. We can use liquids that inhibit fire so it can not spread. We can also do reverse burns to clear paths. Once this is done, we fight the fire, step by step until we hit the middle all together. Surrounded. Winners!

Communication can be done via relaying or direct. Communication towers would be located on drone transport vehicles and is technology we can spin up rapidly based on the technological maturity that exists already. We would also have nice redundancy with each vehicle fitted with a system that can fill in for other failures.

In the above I concentrated a lot on flying drones (though I did not say that). This can be a multi attack, where we fight from the air and the ground. Mobile server units built within drone carrying vehicles, can network and create a powerful engine.

So, with fires becoming worse, where are these systems? Well, they will come. In time. A small team of no more than 10 can create a proof of concept within a year with commercial applications being engaged (with the right funds) within the next year. However, we set such high time frames for technology, we do so with massive teams to “brute force” to concept stages. We forget that perfection does not come on day one and until there is a day one product, you can not improve it.

Next steps could be air filters - sucking up the smoke as they fly and spitting out cleaner air. Yes, you may need to be in the 100's of thousands of drones, but it could be a possible step. How about protecting people and property - so small elite units that form to deal with such battles while the main group is fighting the war. What about smaller fires? Factories and houses?

You see, we have grown all technology simply by someone inventing a base. Then massive amounts of people add to that base. It is the base we need. I always say that in R and D and new technology, the hardest part is finding where to start. Its easy to know what you want. This is probably why it is easy for a "new app" to get funding. Its easy to understand. Most likely built off other technology. New technology is complicated. It is not understood well. But it is, most definitely, our future.

If you can not tell, I believe in the future of technology. I know we have the people and skills to advance far above where we are. I have hope, that we will. Hope you enjoyed.