POWTANOMS

Inspiration

POWTANOMS was inspired by the increasing severity of wildfires in Southern Europe, particularly in Portugal, where extreme heat and human negligence continue to cause devastating environmental, social, and economic damage. We wanted to explore how autonomous systems and AI could shift wildfire response from reaction to prevention.

What it does

POWTANOMS is an autonomous wildfire prevention and early-detection system based on fixed-wing UAVs. The drones continuously monitor high-risk forest areas, assess real-time fire probability using environmental data, and detect early smoke signs using AI, enabling rapid and informed intervention before fires escalate.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing flight endurance, sensor accuracy, system cost, and autonomy was a major challenge. Reducing false positives in smoke detection while maintaining early sensitivity, as well as ensuring reliable communication in remote forest areas, required careful trade-offs.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully conceptualized a fully autonomous, scalable, and low-cost aerial monitoring system that combines early smoke detection with real-time fire risk assessment. The use of affordable hardware in early prototypes demonstrates the feasibility of large-scale deployment.

What's next for POWTANOMS

Next, we aim to refine trajectory optimization, improve AI accuracy, enhance communication reliability, and progress toward custom-designed electronic boards. With mentorship, we plan to evolve the prototype into a field-test-ready system and explore partnerships with government institutions.

Built With

• ai
• uav