Project Grant 20213361035564

TRADITIONALLY, AERIAL PRESCRIBED BURN MISSIONS HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS TO HUMAN LIFE, RESTRICTED TO LIMITED FLIGHT CONDITIONS AND TIMES, AND EXPENSIVE TO EXECUTE. THESE MISSIONS ARE PERFORMED USING A MANNED HELICOPTER WITH TWO CREW MEMBERS ABOARD AND EQUIPPED WITH A PLASTIC SPHERE DISPENSER (PSD) SYSTEM. WHAT MAKES THE PSD CONTROLLED IGNITION MISSIONS DANGEROUS IS THAT THEY ARE TYPICALLY FLOWN IN THE DEAD MAN ZONE WHERE THE HELICOPTER IS AT A VERY LOW ALTITUDE WITH INSUFFICIENT ROOM TO RECOVER FROM MECHANICAL OR OTHER PROBLEMS. SADLY, SEVERAL PILOTS AND CREW MEMBERS HAVE DIED IN PRESCRIBED BURN MISSIONS OVER THE YEARS, INCLUDING WHILE UTILIZING MANNED GROUND VEHICLES.ADDITIONALLY, FOR SAFETY REASONS, AERIAL PRESCRIBED BURN MISSIONS ARE GENERALLY LIMITED TO CLEAR DAYTIME CONDITIONS DURING AN ACTIVE WILDFIRE CAMPAIGN. SMOKE INVERSIONS OFTEN LIMIT VISIBILITY AND FURTHER PREVENT STAFFED AIRCRAFT FROM FLYING. ON AVERAGE, AIRCRAFT ARE ONLY FLOWN 8 OF THE 24 HOURS AVAILABLE FOR FIREFIGHTING AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS, ONE THIRD OF THE TIME. CONSIDERING THAT FIRES ARE MOST VULNERABLE AT NIGHT DUE TO LOWER TEMPERATURES, SUBDUED WINDS, AND HIGHER HUMIDITY, OVERCOMING THESE LIMITATIONS WITH DRONES COULD ENABLE ROUND-THE-CLOCK FIRE SUPPRESSION AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS AND SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITIES AND OUTCOMES.CONSEQUENTLY, PARALLEL FLIGHT TECHNOLOGIES (PFT) AND DRONE AMPLIFIED (DA) PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN AERIAL CONTROLLED IGNITION SOLUTION TO SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM (UAS) PRESCRIBED BURN CAPABILITIES TO MORE THAN 1000 ACRES PER FLIGHT/CHARGE AND ROUND-THE-CLOCK OPERABILITY (DAY OR NIGHT). PFT WILL BUILD A HYBRID ELECTRIC UAS WITH A 10X ADVANTAGE OVER CURRENT ALL-ELECTRIC UAS SOLUTIONS THAT IS CAPABLE OF CARRYING DA'S SCALED-UP PLASTIC SPHERE DISPENSER (PSD) SYSTEM. THE COMBINED TEAM WILL INTEGRATE THE LARGE PSD WITH THE ENHANCED UAS FOR TESTING IN THE FIELD. THE PROPOSED SOLUTION WILL BE SAFER AND OFFER SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS FOR THE US GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTOR. BASED ON USDA ESTIMATES,USING A PFT/DA UAS FOR PRESCRIBED BURNING COSTS APPROXIMATELY $8,000 A DAY COMPARED TO THE $16,000 A DAY FOR A TYPE LLL CALL-WHEN-NEEDED HELICOPTER, WHICH EQUATES TO A USE RATE REDUCTION OF ALMOST 50%.TARGETED PROJECT OBJECTIVES INCLUDE DEMONSTRATING: 1) ABILITY TO CARRY AND DEPLOY AT LEAST 2000 IGNITION SPHERES PER FLIGHT/CHARGE; 2) ABILITY TO DROP SPHERES WITH EQUAL OR BETTER EFFECTIVENESS THAN CURRENT SOLUTIONS; 3) ABILITY TO OBTAIN REAL-TIME THERMAL AND VISUAL CAMERA DATA; 4) ABILITY TO FLY OVER ONE HOUR WITH LARGE PSD; 5) ABILITY TO REFUEL THE UAS IN THE FIELD IN FIVE MINUTES OR LESS WITHOUT THE NEED FOR LARGE GENERATORS TO CHARGE LARGE BATTERIES.