Although nobody moves at the speed of a wildfire, a Bay Area startup is working on a way to potentially knock out the flames before they have a chance to accelerate.
The startup Rain and Stanford University are testing out autonomous aircraft and water 'boba balls' to slow spread of California wildfires.With concerns over a destructive wildfire season growing in California, researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area are testing out a better way to fight back.
The company is perfecting software for fully autonomous, uncrewed aircraft equipped to locate, evaluate, and attack emerging wildfires. The team is working with collaborators including Sikorski, designer of the famed Black Hawk helicopters. Adapted as a firefighting platform, the aircraft can deliver water to target areas with speed and agility. But developers also wanted to make those fire killing airdrops more efficient as well.
"What if we try to do something like water, but boba balls or something like that? What if we did something like the consumable water packets that runners use in marathons? Can we use like a snow cone machine or something like that?" says Park. Back at headquarters, engineers at Rain are continuing to perfect the software that could ultimately help guide the Black Hawk helicopters to their target. And perhaps someday deliver a payload of Stanford water pellets or similar technology.
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