Survey on Fire Fighting techniques using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are increasingly used for a variety of applications that are considered highly risky for human beings such as for fire fighting. Fires have a huge impact on various natural and economic spheres such as in forest and wildfire, oil pipelines, gas emissions, buildings etc. Recent developments in UAV technology can help in playing a huge role in controlling and preventing fires from spreading. UAV is a nascent domain with its own challenges such as battery life,[1] charging, collision avoidance, swarming challenges, network and security related challenges. In this survey paper, we have presented an introduction to critical UAV equipment such as Radio Frequency (RF) Analysers, Acoustic Sensors (Microphones) Optical Sensors (Cameras) Radar. We have reviewed the recent literature and the open research challenges that need to be addressed in the usage of UAVs to extinguish open space, domestic, industrial, forest and wildlife fire. The impact of various control algorithms based on PI, LQG and SDRE approaches applicable to UAVs are also analysed.