UGM Faculty of Engineering students innovate the idea of protecting forests from fires using UAVs and aerogel named Wanaprotect.
With this concept, the UGM team consisting of Ifana Futramsyah, Muhammad Fahriza, and Ainun Putri Khasanah won second place in the 2020 Physics Scientific Writing Competition. The competition took place at Medan State University on March 4-7, 2020.
Ifana said that the idea of Wanaprotect stems from their concern over the many cases of forest and land fires (karhutala) in Indonesia. Therefore, they try to propose solutions to these problems.
“Wanaprotect is a forest protection system that focuses on efforts to detect early fire and blackout alternatives without using water, namely with airgel insulation,” he explained, when contacted Monday (23/3).
“Wanaprotect is a forest protection system that focuses on efforts to detect early fire and extinguishing alternatives without using water, but with aerogel insulation,” he explained, when contacted on Monday (23/3).
Aerogel is a material made from silica, alumina, lead, and chromia and has the lowest density in the world. Fire extinguishing is done by making a barrier from aerogel to cut off the flow of oxygen so that the fire goes out.
Wanaprotect also combines forest monitoring technology with satellites and drones. This way, the system will immediately detect if there is a forest and land fire.
“The system will detect fire as early as possible, making it much easier to extinguish,” he explained.
The idea is expected to be an alternative solution in protecting the forest, especially from fires.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/19169-mahasiswa-ugm-gagas-pemadaman-kebakaran-hutan-dengan-aerogel
