Students make drones for firefighting applications

Mai Tat Dat introduces the feature of controlling the drone's robotic arm with head movements. Photo: H.Yen

This is the fourth prize winning project of the National Science and Technology Competition for High School Students in the 2024-2025 school year.

Fire fighting applications in high-rise buildings and agriculture

When fires occur in high-rise buildings, firefighters often have difficulty accessing upper floors and dangerous areas. The use of UAVs for firefighting is considered a potential solution.

Accordingly, instead of having to find a way to approach directly, firefighters can control UAVs to spray water and fire extinguishing agents on hard-to-reach fire spots, especially on high floors or in areas with dense smoke. In this way, UAVs help save time, minimize risks for firefighters, extinguish fires more quickly and effectively, and protect the lives and property of residents in high-rise buildings.

According to the research team, the project still has a lot of potential for development. That is, UAVs can create flight maps, support search and rescue; support forest regeneration through seeding; support forest patrol and protection... In addition, UAVs can also install a fan system to blow away smoke to prevent residents from suffocating and mini oxygen tank firing devices to provide oxygen to residents where the fire occurs.

After many months of research, experiencing many failures that almost made people want to give up, the UAV Fire Fighting System Project for Apartments and High-rise Buildings was finally completed. The complete UAV model weighs 5.5kg with battery. The flight height when carrying the fire extinguishing agent (water) nozzle reaches 58.2m (equivalent to a 16-story building). The UAV is capable of receiving and sending location signals, images of fire locations through cameras; can extinguish fires with water hoses led from the ground. The direction of the fire extinguishing agent is controlled through the control of the robotic arm using the Head-Controlled-Interface system. In addition, the UAV is capable of self-balancing the water jet, with unlimited flight time and amount of fire extinguishing agent thanks to connecting the power source and the fire extinguishing agent hose from the ground.

The project of Mai Tat Dat and Ha Thien Nhien has many advantages: UAVs are capable of detecting fire with low latency through cameras, thereby supporting timely fire fighting. The UAV is equipped with a water hose control system using a robotic arm, the special feature is that users can control this robotic arm with head movements.

Mai Tat Dat (middle), Ha Thien Nhien (right cover) and instructors participate in the National Science and Technology Competition for high school students.

In addition, Tất Đạt pointed out the limitations of this project. That is, the UAV has a low payload and does not have obstacle avoidance sensors; it needs to be operated by a person regularly during operation, and can have problems if there is strong wind or storm.

Nurture your passion

Mai Tất Đạt started working on the project in June 2024. During the summer, Tất Đạt almost ate and slept with the UAV and did not participate in any other activities. At 7am, after waking up, taking care of his personal hygiene, and having breakfast, Tất Đạt sat down to work until 12pm, had lunch, and then continued working.

“Some days, I worked so hard that I forgot to eat lunch. When the machine had problems, I sometimes stayed up until morning trying to fix it,” Tat Dat recalled.

According to Tất Đạt, he started to love researching and making drones since he was in 3rd grade. However, starting to research and make UAVs was not easy, especially due to the cost barrier. Therefore, it was not until 11th grade that Tất Đạt was determined to devote all his heart to this project.

To cover the cost of buying raw materials, Tất Đạt sold all his collection of items related to his favorite sport of tennis, saving the personal expenses given by his parents. In addition, Tất Đạt received direct support of 20 million VND from his parents, 15 million VND from the school, and nearly 10 million VND from his colleague Hà Thiên Nhiên.

Tat Dat shared: "Up to the time the project was completed, the total cost was about 90 million VND. Until now, my parents still do not know that the cost of this project was so much."

The problem of too much cost was a difficulty that made Tất Đạt think he would have to give up. During the time of implementing the project, Tất Đạt hardly spent any personal money, all the money given by his parents, he used to buy materials for the project.

Another difficulty is damage, malfunction or failed testing during the research process. There are problems that the instructor can guide, there are problems that Tất Đạt has to ask UAV groups online. For more difficult problems that domestic groups cannot answer, Tất Đạt has to ask foreign groups. However, Tất Đạt's foreign language skills are not good, and his specialized vocabulary is limited. Therefore, after receiving the answer, sometimes it takes him months to overcome that technical problem.

Despite many difficulties, Tất Đạt and Thiên Nhiên pursued the project to the end and reaped sweet fruit, bringing home fourth place at the national level.

Hai Yen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202504/hoc-sinh-lam-may-bay-khong-nguoi-lai-ung-dung-trong-chua-chay-0455311/