{
  "patent_number": "US 12420123",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Drones Use Temperature Maps to Safely Start Controlled Fires",
  "original_title": "Fire suppression and ignition with unmanned aerial vehicles",
  "summary": "A system for drones to drop ignition balls for controlled burns while using thermal sensors to navigate away from dangerous heat and optimize fire patterns.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a drone equipped with a specialized ignition system that carries and drops delayed-ignition balls to start controlled fires. The drone uses an onboard control system to generate a real-time temperature map of the area below it. This map allows the drone to navigate autonomously, specifically by detecting high-heat zones and steering the drone toward cooler air to prevent damage. It also uses this data to adjust its flight path, ensuring the drone stays over unburned areas while carrying out its ignition mission.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover ground-based vehicles or manned aircraft used for fire ignition.",
    "Does not cover fire suppression methods that do not involve dropping ignition balls.",
    "Does not cover drones that lack the ability to generate and navigate via a temperature map.",
    "Does not cover non-autonomous ignition systems that require manual pilot input for every drop."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-06-28",
  "granted": "2025-09-23",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "NuTech Ventures Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/nutech-ventures-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Dirac Twidwell",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/dirac-twidwell"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sebastian Elbaum",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/sebastian-elbaum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christian Laney",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/christian-laney"
    },
    {
      "name": "Craig Allen",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/craig-allen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Carrick Detweiler",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/carrick-detweiler"
    },
    {
      "name": "James Higgins",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/james-higgins"
    },
    {
      "name": "Evan Michael Beachly",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/evan-michael-beachly"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "aerospace",
    "mechanical",
    "energy"
  ],
  "abstract": "An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be configured for fire suppression and ignition. In some examples, the UAV includes an aerial propulsion system, an ignition system, and a control system. The ignition system includes a container of delayed-ignition balls and a dropper configured, by virtue of one or more motors, to actuate and drop the delayed-ignition balls. The control system is configured to cause the UAV to fly to a site of a prescribed burn and, while flying over the site of the prescribed burn, actuate one or more of the delayed-ignition balls. After actuating the one or more delayed-ignition balls, the UAV drops the actuated one or more delayed-ignition balls from the UAV onto the site of the prescribed burn.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12420123/raptor-efficiency",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12420123/raptor-efficiency/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12420123",
  "relatedPatents": []
}