PFI:AIR - TT: Situational Awareness during Fire and Emergency (SAFE)

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This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology to fill the need of generating real-time, accurate situational awareness during emergency situations, such as wildfires and structural fires. The project will result in the development of a prototype system consisting of a UAV and a ground station with associated software that can provide the firefighting "Incident Management Teams" with advanced situational awareness capabilities during wildfire and structural fire scenarios. This UAV based system has the following unique features: i) ease-of-use by firefighting professionals in managing UAV operations; ii) quick deployment; and iii) real-time acquisition and processing of information gathered by UAV in order to provide not only a current situational picture but also predictive ability in case of wildfires. These features provide advantages including reduced cost of operation and improved safety of lives and properties as compared with current methodologies such as manned aircraft based surveillance, satellite imageries, and manual lookout practices. This project addresses a number of technology gaps as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application. For example, the conversion of data gathered from UAVs in the form of telemetry and streaming video into an intuitive form easily understandable by firefighters requires innovations in real-time video processing, spatio-temporal estimation, systematic combination of information from multiple sources, and information presentation and visualization. Similarly, intended use by firefighting professionals, who are not trained pilots, and other practical constraints require the UAV operations to be autonomous and algorithms to be computationally efficient.The project engages partners from the University of Toledo Technology Transfer Office, Kayos Enterprise, Inc., West Virginia Division of Forestry, and the Cincinnati Fire Department to guide the commercialization process, augment the research capability, provide a testing environment, and offer an understanding of users' needs and perspectives in this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.The proposed UAV based technology is important because it puts tools in hands of wildfire and structural fire incident commanders so they can obtain improved situational awareness for making timely and informed decisions. This is expected to result in substantial cost savings, improved levels of safety, lower loss of life and property, and augmented preservation of the environment. With the imminent inclusion of UAVs in the national airspace, the technologies developed in this research have wide potential in a number of other civilian applications such as law enforcement, border patrol, and perimeter surveillance. This project provides training to future engineers, incident commanders, UAV operators and entrepreneurs who would lead this field of technology in years to come. In addition, the project will contribute to the U.S. competitiveness in the area of civilian UAV applications with potential economic impact within five to ten years.