Telefónica uses drones and IoT technology for early fire detection

In collaboration with Carlos III University, Divisek and Dronitec have made a pilot who uses these drones to collect optical and thermal images of the fire, and send, in real time, all the information to the emergency services.

Telephone, in collaboration with the Carlos III University, Divisek And Dronitec, has performed in Matachines (Madrid) a sustainable innovation pilot with drones, based on Internet of Things solutions (We) early detection and prevention of wildfires, one of the biggest ecological threats in Spain.

"Thanks to IoT technology, fires can be detected early and vital information can be known to make better decisions in the first few moments, which can help quell an incipient fire and not lead to a great devastating fire", Vicente Muñoz highlights, Chief IoT Officer of Telefónica.

The project takes advantage of the telecommunications towers that Telefónica has throughout the territory where thermal sensors are placed capable of detecting any possible fire focus in a perimeter of up to 15 Km. Inside these towers is a hangar with a drone, equipped also with sensors, a thermal camera and an optical camera, to which thermal sensors, once a fire conate has been detected, send an alarm with the exact location where a fire may have started.

The drone moves autonomously to that point, even in low visibility conditions, circumcises the possible fire to collect optical and thermal images of the fire and sends in real time all the information it collects, thanks to the mobile connectivity provided by Telefónica's towers to emergency services.

This system also allows control of the drone to be taken from the emergency control center at any time to automatically collect more recharge to be available in case another flight is needed. Knowing what's going on allows emergency services to make better decisions such as which operational to send or where to attack fire.

The fire drone pilot has been conducted in collaboration with Carlos III University, Divisek and Dronitec. The University has developed the entire autonomous flight system and interface with which the emergency service sees all the information in real time, while Divisek has been in charge of the autonomous drone reloading system and Dronitec has collaborated throughout the part of services associated with the drone.

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