Award for Bristol drones that target wildfires with autonomous response
A swarm of autonomous drones developed by robotics researchers at the University of Bristol has won a $500,000 award in the global XPRIZE Wildfire competition after demonstrating a system designed to detect and respond to wildfires within minutes.
The Bristol researchers are part of AURA Foresight, an international consortium led by the university. The team was one of three finalists selected from more than 130 entrants to compete in the final challenge, held in Alaska in June.
During the challenge, AURA Foresight deployed its system across a 700 km² wilderness area, using optical and thermal sensors and AI to identify potential wildfire ignitions. It then launched a fully autonomous drone swarm to verify suspected fires, demonstrating a response within 10 minutes.
The system is designed to intervene while fires are still small, with the drones able to operate autonomously once an ignition has been identified. The aim is to give emergency services an early opportunity to contain fires before they develop into larger and more difficult incidents.
The University of Sheffield developed the vision detection system using thermal and electro-optical cameras mounted on the UAV swarm demonstrated in Alaska.
The project brings together researchers in swarm robotics, autonomous systems, AI and computer vision with firefighters and emergency response specialists. AURA Foresight works with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in the UK, as well as wildfire response experts in Canada and Australia, to develop technology that can integrate with existing emergency response operations.
Sabine Hauert (see video below), team co-lead of AURA Foresight and professor of swarm engineering at Bristol, said the award recognised collaboration between researchers, firefighters and technology specialists working to prevent small ignitions becoming major wildfires.
The $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition was launched in 2023 to accelerate the development of technologies for wildfire detection and response. AURA Foresight received the third-place award in Track B, alongside $1.2 million for first-place winner Anduril Industries and $800,000 for second-place winner Dryad Networks.
The consortium includes the University of Bristol, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Sheffield, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and partners in the UK, Australia, Canada, Denmark and the US. Pic: Ian Usher
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