UT team works on drone wildfire technology for international competition
AUSTIN (KXAN) --- A team out of the University of Texas advanced to the next round of an international wildfire competition.
Judges selected Team Texas-Soton as one of 29 other teams from around the world competing in XPRIZE Wildfire.
It is a four-year, $11 million competition that incentivizes groups to create technology that will transform current wildfire management approaches.
The team is a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin, University of Southampton, University of Edinburgh, TU Delft and Texas A&M Forest Service.
'Very fast detection'
Texas-Soton is specifically focused on the autonomous wildfire response track, which requires them to quickly and autonomously detect and put out wildfires in an environmentally challenging area all within 10 minutes.
"A level of complexity that is beyond anything we have seen."
Luis Sentis, UT Professor in Aerospace Engineering
The team is using autonomous drone systems with various sensors to cover large areas, detect wildfires and coordinate fire suppression.
Once the fire is detected, they'll have other drones carry fire suppressants to put out a fire that's just starting.
"We're going to build fixed wing drones that carry smaller drones that deploy the packet with high precision. We also want to use some of the commercial drones in order to do very fast detection," said UT Professor in Aerospace Engineering Luis Sentis.
'Real need for this'
This technology would be a game changer for the Austin Fire Department.
AFD Wildfire Mitigation Officer Justice Jones said most people would be surprised by how many wildfires they respond to.
"In Austin in 2022, we had about 3,000 wildfires," Jones said.
The department started more wildfire prevention messaging to the public and saw a drop in 2023 to 2,000 wildfires.
Jones said they've been collaborating with Team Texas-Soton and helping answer any of their wildfire questions.
"There is a real need for this. We're okay with exploring new, innovative ideas to help us get to the solutions we need into the future. Even if it takes time, now's the time to start."
Justice Jones, AFD Wildfire Mitigation Officer
While there hasn't been an active summer wildfire season yet, Jones said there's still a threat for the rest of the year.
"Soon as it freezes, that grass is dead and it's on for winter fire season," Jones said. "We have the potential in Austin for year-round fire season."
Current delays in getting aircraft
Even with the wildfire risk, the Texas A&M Forest Service said the State of Texas does not own any firefighting aircraft of its own.
'We contract federal resources from across the country. We pull from the same limited pool of resources that everybody else has," said Texas A&M Forest Service Incident Aviation Operations Officer Buster Robinson.
When those aircraft are in other parts of the country, it can lead to delays getting them to Texas.
"Not an ideal situation, but it's the way we are," Robinson said. "The way we operate currently."
Robinson said he is also working with Texas-Soton and answering their questions as well. He said getting those fires when they're very small is crucial.
"That's going to reduce the number of larger aircraft that we may need, especially if they're able to take care of it with the drones earlier on," Robinson said.
Team Texas-Soton said that's why they're so driven to come up with this technology. Regardless of how far they go with XPRIZE, they're also focused on what this equipment could be beyond the competition.
"We can really transform the way we keep all of our citizens, all our neighbors safe," Sentis said.