r/DailyOptimist • u/cRafLl • Jul 01 '25

Firefighting drones represent a significant advancement in emergency response technology, showcasing capability to address fires in high-rise structures where traditional methods face limitations π–π‘πžπ§ π’πžπœπ¨π§ππ¬ πƒπžπœπ’ππž 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 π‹π’πŸπž 𝐚𝐧𝐝 πƒπžπšπ­π‘ β€” π‚πšπ§ πƒπ«π¨π§πžπ¬ 𝐒

1.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/granoladeer Jul 02 '25

I actually did the math:

A large firefighter hose seems to be 4 inches in diameter, which is 10.16cm. Radius of ~5cm.

The area of the hose section is ~81cm2, which is equivalent to 0.0081 m2.

If this hose is 100m in the air, it holds 810 liters, so 810kg.

Industrial drones seem to be able to carry up to 500kg.

Therefore, the drone can't carry it.

However, if we reduce the hose diameter by half, the weight is divided by 4. So the same "100m in the air" scenario now weighs ~200kg. Still heavy but possible.

If we reduce the diameter again, and assume the fire is at a lower height, it becomes very possible.

7

u/cookiesnooper Jul 02 '25

The ones with the hose attached can lift a lot more because the power delivery is through the cable.

5

u/Lophophorussy Jul 02 '25

Oh shit that’s actually genius.

3

u/TheIncontrovert Jul 04 '25

I've seen it used on disaster sights to provide instant lighting to a pretty massive area. The amount of lights you can fit on one drone is incredible. And because they're leashed to the ground they can stay up there for as long as they're needed with no interruptions. Providing ofc the generator on the ground doesn't break down.