"It's a battlefield," Gadi Benjamini, co-founder and CEO of FireDome, told TechCrunch. "It changes, it's dynamic, it's unexpected." This sentiment captures the chaotic nature of wildfire fighting, akin to military operations.
FireDome's system works in much the same way as Iron Dome: There's a tracking system, which in this case is a camera coupled with a computer that keeps watch for embers or small fires; and there's a launcher, which hurls fire retardant-filled projectiles that open before impact to disperse their contents.
The goal is to protect vulnerable assets from wildfire before it strikes. The system can create a barrier by launching a series of fire retardant-filled capsules filled to surround a medium-sized patch of land, something on the order of a neighborhood, resort, or vineyard.
Depending on the topography, one launcher can cover 50 to 100 acres. Later versions will be able to cover a one-mile radius, or a few hundred acres, Benjamini said. The capsules are biodegradable, and Benjamini envisions reusing the sensors embedded within them.
Collection
[
|
...
]