Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (ITACA)

Drones against fire

The ETHON-2 project develops technology designed by UPV research staff who have also managed to transfer it to three specialized companies

ETHON-2 is an evolution of the ETHON project led by the Universitat Politècnica de València and represents its development for its entry into the market. As explained by the researcher from the ITACA Institute of the UPV, David Vinué Visús, the university fulfilled its “mission of technology transfer within the Valencian Innovation System and managed to involve three companies interested in the «ETHON-2 Project: unmanned aerial vehicle for the management of forest fires», which will respond to the requirements of the special plan against the risk of forest fires of the Generalitat Valenciana”.

Two Valencian companies emerged at the UPV

ETRA I + D coordinates this project in which, together with the UPV, the Valencian companies Pyro Fire Extinction and UAV-Works also participate. Both are young technology-based companies that have emerged thanks to the entrepreneurial initiative of graduates at the UPV.

The ETHON-2 system links the information obtained by drones and airborne surface sensors through an advanced communications system. Thus, it offers the operational teams of emergency management all the relevant information of a forest fire in a single digital information management environment.

From the UPV, the research group in Information and Communication Technologies against Climate Change (ICTvsCC) participates in ETHON-2 with an interdisciplinary line of research from the ITACA Institute, directed by Professor José Vicente Oliver Villanueva. In addition to providing the knowledge acquired in the first phase of ETHON, the UPV research staff “defines the doctrine of use in each of the aircraft’s missions, including the air navigation parameters, the study of thermography applied to emergencies and provides support in exercises with live fire and simulations during the project ”, explains researcher David Vinué Visús.

With funding from the Valencian Innovation Agency

The Distributed Real-Time Systems Lab, of the Communications Department of the UPV, directed by Dr. Manuel Esteve Domingo, will carry out the main communications tasks. To do this, it will use private high-speed communications equipment to obtain and retransmit the data from the sensors deployed to the forward command post. It will also take care of sending information to the Emergency Coordination Center and communicating with the sensors distributed in the emergency area.

ETHON-2 started in January 2020 and is scheduled to end in December of this year 2021. It has a funding of 500,200 euros from the Valencian Innovation Agency.

Source: UPV’s Information Office

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