DSC-RX100M3
ƒ/2.8
25.7 mm
1/80
250
Just now at the Near Future Summit. Gavin welcomed Peter Diamandis on stage; the goal is to detect fires early and deploy drones to put them out.
3 responses to “Governor Gavin Newsom Announces the California Fire X-Prize, for Autonomous Detection and Abatement.”
-
The drones are going to have to be 747-sized to handle wind-blown wildfire eruptions in CA. I worked out what it would cost to buy ~100 used 747-sized aircraft, convert them to retardant tankers, and station them at two centrally located fire-airports/bases >> cheap at around $5 billion with ground support. They’d be able to hit any location in the state with insane suppressive power in less than an hour and keep hammering the fire until it was out. This plus putting electrical lines in high risk areas underground, and de-powering the grid during high risk wind storms would probably solve most of the problem. Need to keep in mind that most big fires in CA are started by arsonists, so there is also a major social-engineering component to prevention (arsonist pre-cogs anyone?).
-
thanks. I always wondered why terrorist groups have not started more fires when others are already run amok. If the answer is that this kind of indiscriminate indirect attack is anathema to their ethos, then it bodes well for the future for bio-terrorism. If it’s just a lack of creativity, well, then society is screwed.
-
As you know, fires are highly variable so "algorithming" their behavior, and a response, is an interesting problem. I’m recalling the problems with signal processing and ground clutter in early look-down, shoot down radars. I’m also recalling a buddy who was crawling through a burning building when he reached a large body of fire. It was odd: his inch and three quarter hose had zero effect on the fire. Turns out he was spraying a mirror which was reflecting the fire’s heat and light.
It’s a strange piece of aerospace history. During World War II, I’m recalling there were attempts by Imperial Japan to light off forest fires. So far as we know, they weren’t effective.
Leave a Reply