APPLICATIONS OF NETWORKED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES TO COOPERATIVE FIRE DETECTION USING GRID-BASED DATA FUSION TECHNIQUES

The paper presents a system for cooperative fire detection by means of a fleet of networked heterogeneous UAVs. A grid is used to represent the probability of having fire in a certain position within a given area. Different sensors are considered: infrared and visual cameras and a specialized fire sensor. A Bayesian approach is followed for the integration of the sensor readings and the evolution of the grid as new information is available. The paper presents results from actual field experiments of small controlled fires.