PRE2020 3 Group1
Team Members
| Name | Student number | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen | 1445782 | Computer Science |
| Jos Garstman | 145722 | |
| Oana Radu | 1325973 | Computer Science |
| Ruben Stoffijn | 1326910 | Biomedical Engineering |
| Daniël van Roozendaal | 1467611 |
Problem statement and objectives
Problem statement
Firefighting is a notoriously dangerous and difficult yet important job. Civilians and firefighters still die in fires.
Objectives
- How can drones be used by firefighters? (what improvements do firefighters need?)
- Drone companion
- Autonomous or controlled. Ideally following teams of firefighters around
- Helps firefighters
- Has different functionalities
- Find out whether using firefighter drones provides a significant advantage for firefighters (also see if there are disadvantages)
USE analysis
User
Naturally firefighters will be the main users for this project. The goal of the drone is to aid firefighters in their job, by scouting the area of the incident, giving live (IR) camerafeed from otherwise unreachable positions. If possible, the drones could also follow firefighters into burning buildings to assist the firefighters. Hence, these drones make the work of firefighters more productive and safer.
Civilians (involved) in fire accidents are the second users. Of course, if firefighters are more capable of doing their job, then these civilians have a higher chance of survival or have less damage to their house, for example.
Society
There are multiple stakeholders involved in this project. Governmental organisations, such as the EU and the national government, are the biggest stakeholder, since they control drone regulations. Furthermore, anyone who is using air space is also a stakeholder, as the drones may disturb the air space. In addition, architects may also be a stakeholder, because in the future it might be neccesary to design buildings differently to accommodate to new fire safety regulations.
Enterprise
Of course, businesses are also an important stakeholder. At this moment, there are already drone companies that produce specific drones, which fire brigades are already using. Moreover, in the Netherlands a new fire department has been set up, specifically for firefighter drones. These collabarations show that there certainly is a worthy market for companies to start developing new technologies and designs in relatively new area.
Drone Functionalities
This will change after we talk with the fire department, but for now we thought of some functionalities the drone could have:
- remember the path taken/ find the optimal path
- follow a firefighter/ scout the area
- communicate with the people outside (live camera feed)
- should not obstruct the firefighter
- have a way to improve visibility inside with the smoke (maybe lights or even sounds for people to see them)
- sensors (infrared, proximity, chemicals, temperature, room scan)
- multiple drones with specific tasks
- Carry supplies for firefighters
Sensors
We looked into some sensors the drone could have. The conclusion is that sensors can function in an ambient that has temperature max 250 degrees Celsius. Those sensors are very expensive and have a very small range.
Proximity sensors:
- Balluff:
- Temperatures up to 230 degrees Celsius
- 3 versions of the sensor with range of 50mm
- E2EH:
- Temperature up to 120 degrees Celsius (heat resistance verified to 1000 hours)
- Range max 12mm
- ASI high temperature inductive proximity sensors:
- Different sizes, biggest one has diameter 50mm
- The range for that one is 30mm
- Temperature up to 230 degrees Celsius
- Locon photoelectric high temperature:
- On the site it says temperature up to 250 degrees Celsius, but in the specifications it says only 60 degrees Celsius
- M30 has sensing distance of 2000mm
- M80:
- Temperature 230 degrees Celsius
- Range 50mm
Infrared sensors:
- Pyrometer optris CSmicro LT LTH:
- Temperature resistance up to 180 degrees Celsius
- Starting from 195 euro
- Pyrometers optris CS LT
- Temperature resistance up to 80 degrees Celsiu
- Starting from 95 euro
- Pyrometer optris CThot LT for high ambient temperatures
- Temperature resistance 250 degrees Celsius
- Starting from 590 euro
Flying in fires
WORK IN PROGRESS
Some research was done into how well drones could fly in fire hazards. unfortunately, little was found on the subject. By looking at helicopters in wildfire situations we know it is possible for copters to fly above excessive heat sources, however, it is unknown how this scales with drones in building fires. Next to the flying ability in fire, the resistance to fire is also important. The drone must be able to withstand high temperatures without losing any functionality. The same holds for flying through smoke, which can botch the electronics inside.
Hotter air is less dense than cold air. It is harder to create lift in thinner air and will result in more battery usage. This will result in additional difficulties.
Important notes to take into consideration for the drone design from firefighter radio tests in high-temp fires:
Thermal Class 1:
A maximum temperature of 100℃ (212℉). The test lasted 25 minutes and the radio did not work after the test. Following a cool down time, the radio started to transmit and receive.
Thermal Class 2: A maximum temperature of 160℃ (320℉). The test lasted 15 minutes but after only 8.5 minutes the radios went dead or suffered significant performance problems from transmission and reception shutdown to signal degradation or fluctuation and did not recover after a cool down period.
Thermal Class 3: A maximum temperature of 260℃ (500℉). In this class portable radios inside pockets of firefighter turnout gear were tested. The radios protected in pockets survived but exposed cords, speakers and microphones did not, effectively limiting the radios to Thermal Class 2 electronics.
“Firefighters sometimes find themselves fighting blazes in temperatures as high as 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).” This means 260℃ is supposedly the maximum temperature firefighters have to withstand.
Heat resistance
A study by W.C. Myeong and K.Y. Jung on the development of a fire-proof drone[citation needed](add reference, do not understand how this works yet) suggest the use of an aramid fiber as fire resistant material in combination with an air buffer layer for further insulation. The aramid fibre, also known as BPO, has exceptional fire resistant qualities. The fiber is heat resistant till temperatures up to 550 oC.[citation needed] At temperatures above 500 oC the material starts to lose weight ver slowly. This is hardly relevant for us since the temperatures the fibre will have to endure will be 260 oC at maximum. PBO would however need several layers to protect the electronics inside the drone. Due to the limited weight the drone can carry the use of an air buffer is suggested by the previous mentioned paper. This air buffer is used to circulate cool air through the system and protect the electrical components.
The electrical components inside are not the only parts that have to be heat resistant. The propellers also have to be flame retardant and heat resistant. Rotor blades are the parts that are frequently damaged and are therefore often made from thermoplastics to reduce the cost. However, the main property of a thermoplast is that they soften when heated, a property we definitely do not want. Another material often used is carbon fiber or carbon fiber-reinforced composites. These materials are relatively more expensive, but also come with better mechanical properties such as tensile strength and heat resistance.
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4628(19970801)65%3A5%3C1031%3A%3AAID-APP21%3E3.0.CO%3B2-3
- https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.dianus.libr.tue.nl/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/fam.799
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7992713
Interview with the fire department
The interview is scheduled to be on March 2nd. We will update this part after the interview
Questions for fire department:
-Could you explain what exactly your role is in the fire department and what you do most days at work?
-What do you feel is the biggest problem faced in fire fighting nowadays? What could have the biggest impact on the speed with which fire can be controlled and extinguished?
-What roles do you think drones could take over with the least loss of quality and the highest reduction risk of firemen lives?
-Do you believe that drones could be used to actually douse fires?
-What is your experience with drones with fire fighting and what is your view on the usage of drones?
-If specialized drones could be at a fire site faster than a firetruck, what would be the most useful thing a drone could do as preparation for the arrival of the fire department?
-Have you considered any alternative technologies than drones? What are your conclusions regarding these alternatives?
-When do you think (firefighting) drones will be commonly used by firefighters?
-Do you think a companion drone would be useful (a drone that follows firefighters around and has a few tasks to improve safety and help firefighters with their jobs)? If yes, what feature should it have? What would be the most helpful for you?
-Are drones possible in the fire department practically? Is there a budget for it and is it possible to have enough people on this?
European drone regulations
Since December 31 2020, the Netherlands follow European drone regulations. These new regulations divide drones in 3 separate categories: Open/zero, specific and certified. Normal consumer or hobby drones usually fall in the open category. These drones have a few restrictions:
- Maximum weight: 25 kg (at takeoff)
- Maximum height: 120 meters
- No transporting hazardous material
- No dropping materials
- Always have visual line of sight
There are subclasses for the first category, depending on the weight of the drone. Most relevant is subcategory A3 which concerns drones from 2kg – 25kg. With normal regulations this category cannot fly 150 meters near any living, trade, industry or recreational zones.
The next category, specific concerns flights that:
- May be near people
- May fly near airports
- May have a weight above 25kg
- May fly in inhabited environment
- May fly above a height of 120 meters
- May drop materials
- May fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS)
Drones deployed by the Dutch fire brigade fall under the specific category. Obtaining authorization for flight needs to be done at the national aviation authority. On the national website of the Dutch fire brigade (https://www.brandweer.nl/ons-werk/drones-bij-de-brandweer/meer-over-drones/brandweer-nederland-krijgt-eigen-luchtvaartorganisatie) It is stated that they are getting their own flight organization, perhaps regulations are more lenient or authorization is more quickly granted this way. (((LOOK INTO THIS)))
Dutch fire brigade has unique exemption from specific drone laws: https://www.brandweer.nl/media/9028/stcrt-2018-33332.pdf
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/drone/nieuwe-regels-drones
https://www.easa.europa.eu/domains/civil-drones-rpas/specific-category-civil-drones
Drone state-of-the-art
A company named DJI Enterprise currently produces drones that firefighters in the USA use. Namely, the Mavic 2 enterprise advanced is used. These drones mainly help with urban fires, wildfires, and HazMat Operations. For urban fires, they help by:
- Fly over buildings and obstacles, and see through smoke with thermal cameras to help prioritize targets
- Stream live video intelligence back to command centers to align teams and eliminate uncertainty
- Leverage high-resolution cameras to remotely monitor remaining threats and document damage for future analysis
https://www.dji.com/nl/mavic-2-enterprise-advanced
Another company named Parrot produces a drone named ANAFI Thermal. This professional drone also offers a high quality thermal camera that could potentially be used by firefighters. Details about the drone's features: https://www.parrot.com/assets/s3fs-public/2020-07/bd_anafi_thermal_product-sheet_02_a4_2019_04_10-1.pdf
Both of these drones are pretty similar, and are also used in similar ways. Because of their great mobility, these drones offer live feeds via great vantage points. Furthermore, they can instantly swap from a normal camera to a thermal camera, offering vital information that would otherwise be hard to detect. Drones are not really used for going inside though. For now, they are just Mostly equipped with lots of cameras and other sensors to quickly collect as much data as possible. One bottleneck is that operators of the drones need an ample supply of batteries. Also, these drones function to a temparture up to around 40 degrees Celsius, which is not enough for buildings on firem
Papers
Evaluation of a sensor system for detecting humans trapped under rubble: a pilot study
In this paper, a sensor system for human rescue including three different types of sensors, a CO2 sensor, a thermal camera, and a microphone, is proposed. The performance of this system in detecting living victims under the rubble has been tested in a high-fidelity simulated disaster area.
CO2 sensor is useful to effectively reduce the possible concerned area.
The thermal camera can confirm the correct position of the victim.
The use of microphones in connection with other sensors would be of great benefit for the detection of casualties.
An algorithm to recognize voices or suspected human noise under rubble has also been developed and tested.
Currently, rescue teams use life detection systems mainly based on microphones, optical/thermal cameras, and Doppler radar.
Audio signal analysis is an effective method to detect humans trapped under rubble, and some systems are already commercially available, such as the Acoustic Life Detector, which is based on audio signal processing to identify victims’ low-frequency sounds.
Microphones become less accurate in the case of high background noise such as pneumatic drills, breakers, vehicles, wind, power cables, and water flows that can be present in a real scenario.
Another limitation of audio detection systems is that they cannot locate unconscious victims.
Even though cameras are an efficient method to detect casualties, their effectiveness is limited by their inherent reduced angle of view, the presence of obstacles, and the generally limited visibility under the rubble.
Doppler radar has been widely used in disaster rescue operations due to its efficiency in detecting motion behind obstacles.
Frequency or phase shift in a reflected radar signal can be used to detect motions of only a few millimeters such as heartbeat or breathing.
Doppler radar requires accurate calibration and even small environmental changes due to aftershocks and structural instability have a negative impact on the performance of this kind of system.
In extremely noisy environments the detection of feeble sounds will not be possible.
The correct voice recognition rate is 89.36% in a noisy environment. The correct classification rate for human-related suspect noise, including scratching and coughing, is 93.85%. Therefore, using a microphone in connection with other sensors would be beneficial for the detection of casualties.
Conclusion
- A CO2 sensor can provide useful information to locate a casualty, but an O2 sensor does not
- A voice recognition algorithm based on SVM was also tested and from the results obtained it was confirmed that using the microphone would be of great benefit in the detection of casualties.
- The gas sensor is difficult to use in open spaces due to stronger airflow affecting the CO2 concentration
- A sensor system using only a thermal camera is not robust because some areas cannot be directly accessed using a telescopic pole or directly observed due to the presence of obstacles.
Who did what?
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | 6:15h | Meetings (1:30h + 1:15h + 1h), Brain storming (1h), reserach (1:30h); |
| Jos Garstman(145722) | 5:45h | Meetings (1:30h + 1:15h + 1h), Brain storming (1h), research (1h); |
| Oana Radu (1325973) | 6:15h | Meetings (1:30h + 1:15h + 1h), Brain storming (1h), research (1h), wiki entry (0:30h) |
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | 6:45h | Meetings (1:30h + 1:15h + 1h), Brain storming (2h), research (1h) ; |
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) | 5:45h | Meetings (1:30h + 1:15h + 1h), Brain storming (0:30h), research (1:30h); |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | Meetings (1h + 1h + 0:30h), Talking to firefighter and summarizing that (1:45h), Reading (2:45h), Research (2:15h), Edit wiki (0:45h) | |
| Jos Garstman(145722) | Meetings (1h + 1h + 0:30h), Reading and finding sources (2h) | |
| Oana Radu (1325973) | 7:30h | Meetings (1h + 1h + 0:30h), Reading(2:30h), Research (2h), Edit Wiki (0:30h) |
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | Meetings (1h + 1h + 0:30h), Reading/Research (2h), Letter (1h) | |
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) | 6h | Meetings (1h + 1h + 0:30h), contacting firefighters for interview (1:30h), reading articles (2h) |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | Meetings(0:30h + 0:30h) | |
| Jos Garstman(145722) | Meetings(0:30h + 0:30h) | |
| Oana Radu (1325973) | Meetings(0:30h + 0:30h), Research(2h) | |
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | Meetings(0:30h + 0:30h) | |
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) | Meetings(0:30h + 0:30h) |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | ||
| Jos Garstman(145722) | ||
| Oana Radu (1325973) | ||
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | ||
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | ||
| Jos Garstman(145722) | ||
| Oana Radu (1325973) | ||
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | ||
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | ||
| Jos Garstman(145722) | ||
| Oana Radu (1325973) | ||
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | ||
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | ||
| Jos Garstman(145722) | ||
| Oana Radu (1325973) | ||
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | ||
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) |
| Name (Student number) | Time spent | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Tristan Deenen (1445782) | ||
| Jos Garstman(145722) | ||
| Oana Radu (1325973) | ||
| Ruben Stoffijn (1326910) | ||
| Daniël van Roozendaal (1467611) |