In a fire, the first few minutes decide how many people get out safely, yet that is exactly when firefighters know the least about what is happening inside. I built a drone-based worker safety and emergency system to close that gap, so that help is called and eyes are on the scene from the moment a fire starts.
The system uses heat and temperature sensors placed around a site to detect a fire. The second the sensors pick up a signal, the system automatically calls the fire brigade and deploys a GPS-guided drone to the location of the alert, without waiting for anyone to raise the alarm.
Once it reaches the scene, the drone live-streams footage to the firefighters. That view helps firefighters locate people who may be trapped and understand where the fire is spreading from, so they can plan their approach before they even arrive.
The project is currently in its manual stage: the drone already receives the deployment signal from the sensors, but it is flown by hand. I am now working on making it fly autonomously, so the full chain from detection to live footage runs on its own.