Inside Drones

Inside Drones — page 1 — CHAPTER ONE

Inside Drones — page 2 — EYES IN THE SKY On August 8 2017 the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon had many dangerous storms There were strong winds By the end of the night lightning strikes had started 15 forest fires The forest had been dry before the storm This meant that fighting the fires would be a challenge But the crews had a new tool drones Drones gave crews a set of eyes in the sky Marcus Tobey was one of the trained drone pilots at the Umpqua fire He operated a small quadcopter drone It was outfitted with an infrared video camera The camera First responders use drones to help keep people safe

Inside Drones — page 3 — helped Tobey see the fires at night It sent real-time aerial footage to crews on the ground Tobey watched the fire There were many small bits of burning wood in the air Crews worried that they might start a new fire On one flight Tobey noticed INFRARED CAMERAS All objects give off infrared rays They are a type of light ray They cannot be seen without special equipment Warm objects give off more infrared rays than cold objects Infrared cameras detect these rays They convert the rays into images The color of the image is determined by its heat Hot areas such as fires glow brightly Infrared cameras on drones are a useful tool when it is hard to see They can see a victim even in smoky dark or foggy conditions something unusual A new area glowed on the infrared camera Tobey had discovered a new fire A NEW TOOL Crews quickly put out the fire that Tobey spotted before it spread This saved an estimated 50 million in damages But it could not have happened without

Inside Drones — page 4 — People can build their own drones or purchase them at electronics stores Tobey and his drone It was too dangerous for helicopters to fly over the area Smoke had reduced the visibility to 100 feet 30 m But the drone could fly

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