Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore have devised a unique strategy that aims to employ multiple swarms of drones to address natural disasters such as forest fires, as per a PTI report.
It was observed that forest fires are becoming catastrophic worldwide, a disaster further exacerbated by climate change.
Suresh Sundaram, Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IISc, suggests, "A swarm of drones could be the solution."
According to a press release, the use of drones in these situations is not entirely new but for such calamities in India, it has never been used.
Coordinated multi-swarm drones
Explaining the phenomenon, Sundaram says that during these situations, when the fire has started spreading rapidly, it cannot be put out with a drone, and for this, a swarm of drones is required, drones which can communicate with each other. The solution involves devising a unique algorithm that can enable the swarm to communicate with each other while also autonomously making decisions.
For the detection of such situations, the drones can be equipped with cameras, thermal and infrared sensors, and temperature detectors, to spot the fires.
Research inspired by flagellate organism
In response to this challenge, the researchers drew inspiration from the foraging behaviour of a marine predator known as Oxyrrhis marina, a flagellate organism.
Josy John, PhD student at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, and lead author of the study published in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems explained, "Once it feels like it is closer to the food source, it will reduce the step length and then start exploring the area in more detail."
Sundaram highlights the advantage of utilising such drones, emphasising decentralised decision-making driven by data for optimal efficiency. Specifically, only the necessary drones are deployed to a fire cluster, enabling the rest to explore additional clusters.
The drones are yet to undergo testing, a PTI report.
