Drone System Douses Fire, Rescues Person

Lockheed Martin has developed an unmanned aerial firefighting system that it expects to have ready for service in about five years. Full-sized unmanned Kaman K-MAX and Sikorsky helicopters (both can also be flown by pilots) were used in a demonstration that showed the system not only picking up water from a pond and dousing a fire but also identifying and picking up a person stranded by the fire. The K-MAX put out the fire and the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA) S-76 took care of the rescue. Both of the helicopters were controlled by smaller drones. "Our goal is to support the integration of autonomy into aviation to improve the safety and capabilities for military and commercial missions," said Mark Miller, vice president of engineering and technology for Sikorsky, which was recently acquired by Lockheed Martin.

In this scenario, an Indago quadrotor identified hot spots and sent the information to an operator, who directed the K-MAX to autonomously pick up the bucket of water and drop it on the areas identified by the drone. Meanwhile, a fixed-wing Desert Hawk 3.1 spotted the stranded person and triggered a collaborative effort between the K-MAX and the Sikorsky. The K-MAX was able to scan the area and direct the Sikorsky to a safe place to land. "When lives are at risk, advanced human-machine teams can complete dangerous missions without putting others in harm's way," said Dan Spoor, Lockheed Martin's vice president of unmanned systems.