Drones firefighter against fire

The Spanish Drone Hopper develops devices to store 300 liters of water to access places where firefighters do not arrive

   Last year it closed with 65,000 hectares of forest and scrub lands and there was an increase in large forest fires, those affecting areas of more than 500 hectares, which exceeded twenty, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment.

The forecasts of low rainfall and high temperatures have led Interior to start up fire prevention and ask for "maximum alert" to citizens. For the first time, forest and fire teams will have a drone team to stop the advance of the fire.

Four unmanned aerial vehicles will be added to the extinction works. "It complements, above all, the hydroplane's work", explains Pablo Flores, aeronautical engineer and CEO of Drone Hopper.

   The Flores startup is one of the few Spanish companies focused on the development of firefighter drones. "The idea was born with a patent of mine and thinking about the management of firefighting. We want to improve efficiency, "he adds.

With just over two years of life, Drone Hopper "is not designed for very large fires," says the creator of the startup. Each drone has a maximum capacity of up to 300 liters of water and dimensions of 160 cm in diameter by 50 cm in height. The chosen configuration results in a compact, stable and fault-resistant solution. The drone has structural modifications that allow the implementation of characteristics that make viable the transport and fogging of up to 300 liters of water, as well as the control systems, thermal cameras and navigation.

This solution has allowed them to receive the 2017 Aeronautical Innovation Award delivered by the Official Association of Aeronautical Engineers of Spain. "Our project is designed for firewalls, defense lines, support for brigades, protection of critical infrastructures such as houses, people who are trapped", stresses its creator.

After making the first prototype, he designed a second drone of 80 liters of water, designed both for the extinction of forest fires, from a more indirect plane, and for the precision agriculture of large crops. "He has hired us many individuals in agriculture in Latin America," he says.

Flores points out that thanks to technology "you can be more precise to fumigate or even irrigate". Drone Hopper devices are equipped with cameras, "we have always thought of being able to fully automate the flight".

However, the first stone on the road has been regulation. "The Spanish Administrations are quite cautious." For this reason, the main calls to Drone Hopper have arrived "from abroad", says Flores to Innova +.

Among his contacts, numbers from Chile, Canada, the United States and, particularly India. This Asian country has shown special interest in the small aircraft of the Flores team. "We have a version that has emerged recently that is a drone for urban fires," he says. "They make the engines, the most expensive, and we the rest. And we would sell it there for urban fires, because they have a very important problem with access to certain spaces in their most important cities. "

In New York, the city's firefighters already have a drone in their fleet prepared to intervene in fires. It cost $ 85,000 to the department, it is equipped with two cameras. One is a high definition camera and the other is infrared. However, in this case it would only be worth to guide the work of firefighters in the area.