Autonomous Measurement System for Aerial Water Drops

Aerial wildfire suppression is a critical and costly tool, yet its effectiveness is limited by an incomplete understanding of how water and fire retardant disperse from release to impact. Our team, Suppress Express, partnered with Rain, a startup developing autonomous firefighting aircraft, to design an autonomous measurement system that measures the spatial distribution and density of aerial suppressant drops. Current methods for measuring drop effectiveness rely on the ‘cup and grid’ method, where hundreds of cups are manually placed on the ground to collect suppressant, requiring extensive time and labor. Our system consists of load cell-based collection nodes rigidly constrained by lightweight rods for consistent spacing. Each node independently measures water volume and wirelessly transmits data to a central unit, enabling rapid generation of coverage maps. Engineered for use in rugged outdoor environments, the system is designed to withstand high winds, extreme temperatures, and the high impact forces generated by suppressant drops, all while maintaining accurate, reliable data collection. By providing near real-time measurements, this system will inform autonomous firefighting strategies and improve the efficacy of aerial wildfire suppression.