US Patent:
20180296865, Oct 18, 2018
Inventors:
- Lincoln NE, US
Sebastian Elbaum - Lincoln NE, US
James Higgins - Lincoln NE, US
Christian Laney - Papillion NE, US
Craig Allen - Crete NE, US
Dirac Twidwell - Lincoln NE, US
Evan Michael Beachly - Lincoln NE, US
International Classification:
A62C 3/02
B64C 39/02
B64D 1/02
G05D 1/00
Abstract:
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be configured for fire suppression and ignition. In some examples, the UAV includes an aerial propulsion system, an ignition system, and a control system. The ignition system includes a container of delayed-ignition balls and a dropper configured, by virtue of one or more motors, to actuate and drop the delayed-ignition balls. The control system is configured to cause the UAV to fly to a site of a prescribed burn and, while flying over the site of the prescribed burn, actuate one or more of the delayed-ignition balls. After actuating the one or more delayed-ignition balls, the UAV drops the actuated one or more delayed-ignition balls from the UAV onto the site of the prescribed burn.