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Sun FM Gossip
Thursday, 21 May 2026
Thursday, 21 May 2026
Sun FM Gossip
SELF POWERED WILDFIRE DETECTOR COULD BE THE ANSWER TO PREVENT WILDFIRE SPREAD!
Tuesday, 25 August 2020
Scientists say they have discovered a cheaper, easier way to detect and warn of deadly wildfires: an alternate type of forest fire sensor powered by the swaying of trees. The device—the size of a soup can and costing just $20 to produce—would conceptually be much cheaper than satellite monitoring or manned patrols.
Firefighters typically observe such wildfire outbreaks with manned watchtowers, aircraft, ground patrols, and satellites. But all of these are expensive and require quite the haul of manpower. And low-cost fire sensors require constant routine battery replacement. These batteries can also affect the environment if disposed of improperly and the harmful metals leak out.
The new prototype fire detector doesn’t require batteries and is powered by a “triboelectric generator” that uses small motions to produce energy. The design consists of a top and bottom set of slightly different size circular cylinders—one coated in copper film, the other in Teflon—that are inter joined and are connected by a rubber band. The bottom set is weighted so that when hung from a swaying branch, the cylinders move up and down against each other, converting the branch’s erratic motion into electrical power.
This design can “generate electricity from the slightest swinging of tree branches,” says study leader Changyong Cao, a mechanical engineer at Michigan State University. The device needs a breeze to provide power, but fires create air currents, meaning energy will likely be readily available, he says. The tech is engineered to be fireproof and waterproof and given it comes without batters, there is no risk of leaking harmful metals, the team reports in Advanced Functional Materials.
Firefighters typically observe such wildfire outbreaks with manned watchtowers, aircraft, ground patrols, and satellites. But all of these are expensive and require quite the haul of manpower. And low-cost fire sensors require constant routine battery replacement. These batteries can also affect the environment if disposed of improperly and the harmful metals leak out.
The new prototype fire detector doesn’t require batteries and is powered by a “triboelectric generator” that uses small motions to produce energy. The design consists of a top and bottom set of slightly different size circular cylinders—one coated in copper film, the other in Teflon—that are inter joined and are connected by a rubber band. The bottom set is weighted so that when hung from a swaying branch, the cylinders move up and down against each other, converting the branch’s erratic motion into electrical power.
This design can “generate electricity from the slightest swinging of tree branches,” says study leader Changyong Cao, a mechanical engineer at Michigan State University. The device needs a breeze to provide power, but fires create air currents, meaning energy will likely be readily available, he says. The tech is engineered to be fireproof and waterproof and given it comes without batters, there is no risk of leaking harmful metals, the team reports in Advanced Functional Materials.
