Application of Drone Technology for

Firefighting

Author: Sam Dieteren

University of Twente
P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede
The Netherlands

ABSTRACT,
Fire incidents are getting more dangerous, complicated and larger scaled. A
potential technical solution for this problem could be the application of drone
technology for firefighting. This research aims to identify which potential business
cases for drone application for firefighting there are, and how to further develop
these. Through a combination of literature research and field research five
business cases were identified: drones equipped with camera and ‘sniffer’ systems,
firefighting swarms of drones and drones equipped with fire-extinguishing balls
and Ifex impulse firefighting gun. A theoretical framework was made with
literature that explains the success factors of new-product development and
adoption, which gave a solid base for answering the second research question of
how to develop the business cases. With information gathered from expert
interviews a quick scan tool was used to assess the readiness of the several business
cases. Result showed that the non-extinguishing business cases, which are the
drones equipped with camera and ‘sniffer’ systems, are in a later stage of the
development process than the extinguishing business cases. Another important
finding was that the sales market of the fire department is not big, and that the
business cases should also be of use in other sectors to make up for this problem.
The theoretical framework gave an insight in how to proceed with developing the
several business cases. It indicated a need for differentiation, good
communication, trust and cooperation to make the development of the business
cases into a success. The advice to drone companies that are looking for a business
case that they can implement in the coming years and that can serve a lot of
customers, the first two business cases of drones with camera systems and
‘sniffers’ should be considered, with an opportunity to possibly combine the two.

Graduation Committee members:

Dr. R.P.A. Loohuis
Prof. Dr. Ir. P.C. De Weerd-Nederhof
Keywords
Firefighting drones, firefighting equipment, drone solutions, drone application.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original work is properly cited.
CC-BY-NC
1. INTRODUCTION 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Fire incidents are getting more dangerous, complicated and The current state of the firefighting-drone market is fairly pre-
larger-scaled, making it more difficult for human first-responders mature, as of now the Dutch fire brigade only uses drones that
to act.1 A potential technical solution could be the application of are equipped with thermal imaging cameras and real-time
unmanned firefighting equipment, to avoid further substantial cameras to detect and monitor potential danger.4 This means that
damage as to protect the first responders. Another benefit might there is much room for improvement and a potential gap in the
be that unmanned firefighting equipment would make the market for drone technology companies to develop new
firefighting process more efficient and provide a better way of firefighting solutions. To select the potential business cases for
dealing with fire incidents. Drone technology is increasingly drone application in firefighting a combination was used of
considered as a good candidate in this regard. Depending on the literature research and field research. The selection of literature
situation of the incident drones could potentially be applied for research was based on the popularity of the innovation ideas and
several purposes within firefighting practices, such as the use cases within the field of scientific papers as measured by the
monitoring of potential danger, detection of the danger and the times of citation of the articles. Next to this attention was paid to
extinguishing of fire. Right now, research is being done to review the relative recency of publishing of the scientific papers. The
drones that could monitor potential danger by the use of thermal field research was made up of the meeting with a representative
imaging cameras and real-time cameras. Also, research is being of the fire solution company Ifex, a representative of Space53
done using swarms of drones and drones that are able to payload and a representative from Saxion university of applied sciences.
drop to extinguish fires. 2 3 However why are most of these Five potential business cases were selected to review and
solutions not being implemented by fire brigades yet? Which compare.
barriers could be in the way of a potential solution to a new
arising problem? It could be that legislation is a last hurdle to
take while implementing these new technologies. Or does the 2.1 Market Overview
problem lie within the ethical dimension: could there be danger
for civilians with the use of drones for firefighting? These
2.1.1 Drones Equipped with Camera Systems
One possible business case in the application of drone technology
dimensions must be handled with care, and therefore each
for firefighting is to mount camera systems like hyperspectral,
dimension requires attention per business case.
thermal and infrared cameras to the drones to be able to monitor
Drone technology companies are looking for potential and detect potential fire incidents. These camera systems could
applications and business cases for the use of drone technology warn a first-respondent teams or assist them while they are doing
in this field. One of them could be the application of drone their job. Warning first-respondent teams before the fire spreads
technology for firefighting, where there is still much ground to can be of crucial importance in many incidents. Next to a faster
cover aspects such as commercialization and the technology detection of fire, it could lead to cost savings.5 New sensors and
development. miniaturization of existing sensors promise to increase the range
Therefore, the research questions of this paper will read: of application they could have. There are several uses of such
sensor assisted drones. One use could be the application of these
- What could be potential business cases in using drone drones in wildfire detection. As of now inferior solutions for the
technology for firefighting? detection of wildfires are being used. Watch towers for the
- And what must be done to develop these? monitoring of wildfires are inflexible, expensive and cannot
The aim of this research is to give a clear overview about the cover a large area. Satellite footage is often too inaccurate, and
opportunities that lie within the field of firefighting drones, and therefore will not be able to warn first-respondent teams before
how to further develop these opportunities. The current literature the fire spreads. The other option for the monitoring of wildfires
describes different ideas and designs for firefighting drones, but are manned aircraft such as helicopters and planes, which
none of the literature makes a concrete overview and gives represent a much more expensive firefighting solution than the
guidance on further improvement. The cases that are examined sensor assisted drones. Drones will be able to cover a vast area
are drones equipped with camera systems, ‘sniffer’ drones, and have a perfect accuracy for detecting the beginning of a
firefighting drone swarms, drones equipped with fire- wildfire.6 Another possible area of application of these drones
extinguishing balls and drones equipped with Ifex’ impulse that are equipped with sensor systems is the detection of
firefighting gun. The research design that was chosen is to assess subterranean fires. Drones that are mounted with a thermal
the different business cases along the hands of a quick scanning infrared detector can detect the heat transferred to the surface
tool and chosen theories from literature. This will indicate the above a fire. Research turns out that these drones will have a very
readiness of the different business cases and provides insights for accurate detection of fire, even flying at heights up to 250 meters
further development. The theories that were chosen, provide a above ground. They should be able to detect both open and
basis on how to handle new-product development, and what must covered fires.7
be done to make this into a success. This thesis consists of a
literature review, which is build up from a market overview and
a theoretical framework, a methods part, displaying of the results, 2.1.2 ‘Sniffer’ Drones
a discussion part and conclusion. After this the limitations and ‘Sniffer’ drones have a lot of similarities with drones that are
future research for this article are explained. equipped with camera systems. Instead of the camera systems,
these drones are now equipped with an air monitoring system that
collects data on the chemical that are in the air`. It does so by
flying to a measuring point, for example through a cloud of

1 6
Weewer, R. (2021, 17 februari). Allison, R., Johnston, J., Craig, G., & Jennings, S. (2016)
2 7
Ausonio, E., Bagnerini, P., & Ghio, M. (2021). Burke, C., Wich, S., Kusin, K., McAree, O., Harrison, M.,
3 Ripoll, B., Ermiasi, Y., Mulero-Pázmány, M., & Longmore, S.
Aydin, B., Selvi, E., Tao, J., & Starek, M. (2019).
4
Brandweer Nederland (2020) (2019)
5
Christensen, B. R. (2015)
smoke, and at the location it measures the presence and the This innovation is still in a very pre-mature face and there is still
concentration of different chemicals. This information is much room for thought. The payload drop mechanism drones
important because it could indicate if the air that is moving could be integrated in a system with the first two potential
towards a civilized area could be dangerous.8 Next to that the business cases we displayed. Next to the scouting drone being a
location of the source of the fire could be located through gas drone that is equipped with sensor systems, the innovation could
dispersion investigation. To pinpoint the location of the source, be coupled to the swarm of drones, as it would be a swarm of the
different sampling points are used. A factor that could disturb this fire-extinguishing balls drones. Next to that the drones could
technology is the wind. 9 However the robustness and vary from being able to carry 2 to 4 fire-extinguishing balls at a
effectiveness in windy areas has been established for the process time, and it could also be remote controlled through attaching a
of measuring the concentration. 10 The measuring device is camera with first person view. 17
relatively small and of lightweight, therefore it can be mounted
on almost any kind of drone.11 The ease of use of this drone is
another benefit, the data collection about the air and its 2.1.5 Drones Equipped with Ifex’ Impulse
substances is much easier through the application of this drone.12 Firefighting Gun
The sniffer drone also has use-situations in other sectors, such as The last potential business case of drone use for firefighting
gas-pipe leakage detection, monitoring volcanic prone areas and comes forth from field research, a meeting with several
mapping water pollution.13 stakeholders in the market. The Ifex impulse firefighting shotgun
is a firefighting solution that has existed already for several years
and has also been used successfully in many countries. It is an
2.1.3 Firefighting Drones Swarm extremely versatile tool that can extinguish different kinds of
One of the possibilities of drone technology is to create fires. It does so through a unique technique, a combination of a
algorithms that result in self-coordination mechanisms for a high discharge speed of more than 400 km/h and the large
swarm of drones, could be hundreds of drones. This innovation cooling surface that it brings make for a firefighting gun that can
could also be of use in the fight against a fire incident. Research extinguish fires with a small amount of water.18 As of now the
has been done to develop a solution with these swarms of Dutch fire brigade did not use the Impulse firefighting gun,
firefighting drones for the suppression of wildfires. A swarm of because with this solution you have to go towards the fire to make
hundreds of drones should be able to generate a continuous flow effective use of it, while policy in the Netherlands says that the
of extinguishing liquid on a fire front, simulating the effect of fire brigade has to stay at considerable distance of the fire.
rain.14 The focus lies on the self-coordination mechanism which Therefore, the idea emerged to attach a Ifex impulse firefighting
will be able to perform the desired firefighting behavior. gun to a drone, to make sure that the firefighting gun could be
Research has shown that this self-coordination mechanism of the used to its full effectiveness and go towards the fire without
swarm of drones can make realistic predictions, confirmed the risking human life. A meeting was set up with a representative of
expected scalability of the number of drones in the swarm and the fire solution company Ifex, a representative of Space53 and
will be able to operate in physical dynamic environments. In a representative from Saxion university of applied sciences to
theory any wildfire could be extinguished given enough time and have chat about the idea. The drone that would be needed to carry
a sufficient number of drones. However, the number of drones in the firefighting gun should be able to lift the weight of the gun,
the swarm is still limited because of the current development in which will be around 10-15 kilos, and should be able to
the technology.15 This would mean that there is no longer need compensate for the recoil of the firefighting gun to keep the drone
for human first-responders for wildfire suppression, since these flying steadily. If the idea is worked out and tested it could
self-organizing swarms of firefighting drones are autonomous. represent a very versatile and effective firefighting drone.

2.1.4 Drones Equipped with Fire-extinguishing 2.2 Theoretical Framework

Balls 2.2.1 Space53 Quick Scan Tool
The third potential business case is the mounting of a payload-
To assess the current readiness level of the different business
drop mechanism onto the drones which can drop fire-
cases we use the quick scan tool that was developed by Space53
extinguishing balls. A system of a scouting drone to detect and
to measure the levels of readiness in 5 different domains: social,
monitor the risk of fire, could be such a drone as described in the
ethical, technical, business and legal domain. The quick scan tool
first business case, which communicates to the firefighting drone
was developed by experts with various backgrounds from Saxion
the location of potential danger. The firefighting drone travels to
University of applied sciences, University of Twente and
the waypoints autonomously to then drop the payload of these
Space53. It consists of a questionnaire with 81 questions
fire-extinguishing balls. Experiments show that the use of these
considering if the situations that are described are applicable to
firefighting drones might not be of effective aiding in building
the specific business case. Each dimension gets a readiness score
fires unless there are open windows and doors. However, they
from 1 to 9, whereas TRL 1 (technical readiness level) is an
turn out to be very effective for short grass fires, which could be
innovation that is at a fundamental level where basic principles
the wildfire approaching a building, fence or firefighting crew.16
are observed, and much work still needs to be done to develop

8 13
Brandweer Nederland. (2019, 11 juli). Kuantama, E., Tarca, R., Dzitac, S., Dzitac, I., Vesselenyi, T.,
9 & Tarca, I. (2019).
Kuantama, E., Tarca, R., Dzitac, S., Dzitac, I., Vesselenyi, T.,
14
& Tarca, I. (2019). Ausonio, E., Bagnerini, P., & Ghio, M. (2021)
10 15
Chang, C. C., Wang, J. L., Chang, C. Y., Liang, M. C., & Lin, Innocente, M. S., & Grasso, P. (2019)
M. R. (2016). 16
Soliman, A. M. S., Cagan, S. C., & Buldum, B. B. (2019)
11 17
Rossi, M., Brunelli, D., Adami, A., Lorenzelli, L., Menna, F., Aydin, B., Selvi, E., Tao, J., & Starek, M. (2019)
& Remondino, F. (2014). 18
Ifex. (2020)
12
Chang, C. C., Wang, J. L., Chang, C. Y., Liang, M. C., & Lin,
M. R. (2016).
the innovation. TRL 9 is a fully implemented product available
on the market. The average of the different domains will give an
overall technical readiness score for each potential business case.

2.2.2 Further Development of the Potential

Business Cases
To answer the second part of the research question: What must
be done to develop these potential business cases, several
theories were chosen:

2.2.2.1 Drivers of Success in New-product

Development
This article identifies three main categories of drivers of success
in new-product development: individual new-product projects,
Figure 1 (Talwar, S., Dhir, A., Khalil, A., Mohan, G., & Islam,
organizational and strategic factors, the right systems and
A. N. (2020))
processes. For this research the individual new-products factors
are most applicable, so the focus is on these factors. There are
several individual-new product factors that lead to success. 19 - Pre-adaption stimulators and inhibitors of initial trust:
- Unique superior products: a new product should be perceived information quality, perceived service
differentiated from competing products in the market. quality, perceived uncertainty and perceived asset
They should solve a problem that customers are having specificity.
with current competing products. Next to this, products - First-order factors: perceived benevolence, perceived
should be of good value for money and the quality integrity and perceived ability
should be high. One of the most important things about - Continuation intention: confirmation and perceived
these factors are that they should be visible and easily usefulness.
perceived by customers. For the first category a relationship was found with initial trust.
- The products should be market-driven and VoC (voice- Same goes for the first-order factors. The initial trust shows a
of-the-customer) should be built in: Customers are positive relationship with perceived usefulness and confirmation.
important in the processes of idea generation, product From which perceived usefulness shows the biggest impact on
design, early testing and giving feedback after the continuation intention. 20
product are put into the market.
- Pre-development work: this is the homework that
should be done by companies before it even begins 3. METHODOLOGY
with the innovation. This means doing market This research will be done with a combination of data gathering
assessment and technical assessment. Next to this a
that consists of literature research, interviews being held,
business and financial analysis should be conducted.
meetings attended and the Space53 scanning tool will be used for
- Sharp, early and fact-based product definition: before
the assessment of the readiness levels of the different business
the start of new-product development it should be
cases. A choice was made to have a qualitative assessment of the
defined what the scope, target market, product concept
different business cases by interviewing experts that are
and the benefits and positioning strategy are.
specialized in the different dimensions of the scan about their
- The products should be made with a global orientation: specialized dimension. This information was translated to the
it has shown that new-product development with a scan to assess the readiness levels per business case.
global approach outperform those with a home market
approach.
- Planning and resourcing the launch.
3.1 Answering the Research Questions
3.1.1 What Could Be Potential Business Cases in
2.2.2.2 Point of Adoption and Beyond Using Drone Technology for Firefighting?
This article gives insights in the psychological process of the To answer this question a combination of literature research and
adaption of a new product or technology by customers. Initial field research was done. For the selection of the literature to use
trust develops on a first use of a product. Initial trust is also the the focus was one popularity of the articles that could be found
biggest driver of the continuation intention of the customer. It and their recency. The field research was done while having a
also turns out that future transactions require less consumer effort meeting with several stakeholders of the potential business cases.
after initial trust formation. This research developed a two-step
model which provides the process of pre-adaption concerns until From this process 5 business cases came forward to consider.
continuation adaption. It can be divided into three categories: Drones equipped with camera systems, ‘sniffer’ drones,
firefighting drone swarms, drones equipped with fire-
extinguishing balls and drones equipped with Ifex’ impulse
firefighting gun. The first four coming from literature research
that was done, and the Ifex’ impulse firefighting gun was selected
through field research.

19 20
Cooper, R. G. (2019) Talwar, S., Dhir, A., Khalil, A., Mohan, G., & Islam, A. N.
(2020)
To further assess the readiness of the business cases the Space53 in table 1. The numbers correspond to the technological readiness
quick scanning tool will be used. The different domains of the levels (TRL’s) of the different domains per business case. The
business case applications will be assessed on a scale from 1 to 9 range of the TRL’s goes from 1-9 for the social and technical
on their readiness levels. For the answering of the questions in dimension, while the range of the other dimensions goes from 0-
this scanning tool experts will be asked to participate in this 9. A TRL of 1 means that the business case is a fundamental
research and share their knowledge about the different domains. product in which basic principles are observed, a TRL of 9 means
The scanning tool is a rather long and complex process that will that the business case is a full-implemented product that is
take up to 40 minutes per business case, therefore an approach available on the market. If a product has a TRL of 0 on the
was chosen to let the participants partake in a shorter versioned ethical, business or legal dimension, this means that the business
interview which will be translated into the quick scanning tool case is not developed at all.
later. Most of these experts will not have expert knowledge of
every domain that is in the scan, therefore the experts will answer
only the questions from the domains they are most familiar with. Table 1
The experts that were chosen to participate in this research are: Social Ethical Techni Busine Legal
- Expert A – specialized on drones at the Dutch fire dimens dimens cal ss dimens
department ion ion dimens dimens ion
- Expert B – specialized on innovation for the Dutch fire ion ion
department Drones 6.8 7 9 6.7 8.2
- Expert C – specialized on wildfires equipped
- Expert D – specialized on robotics for drones with
The scan determines the technical readiness levels by asking camera
questions on different subjects per dimension. By answering systems
these questions an average score will be calculated. The ‘Sniffer’ 6.5 8 9 7.5 8.2
questions per dimension are about the following subjects: drones
- Social dimension: questions about the stakeholders of Firefighti 4.9 4 5 5.1 6.4
the business case, the design of the business case and ng
the acceptance of the business case. drones
- Ethical dimension: questions about the aim of the swarm
business case, the safety of the business case, what
kind of automation option a business case has, the Drones 3.6 3 6 4.3 6.6
distance an operator of the drone can have from the equipped
drone and changing values when it comes to the with fire-
stakeholders of the business case. extinguis
- Technical dimension: questions about the different hing
components and functions of the business case, about balls
the system integration of the business case and the Drones 4.7 4 6 4.7 6.6
back-end processing of the business case. equipped
- Business dimension: questions about the customer with
group that a business case would have, the value Ifex’
proposition and market of the business case. impulse
- Legal dimension: questions about the public safety and firefighti
security of the business case, the environmental burden ng gun
the business case would bring with it, privacy
regulations and with that the data protection that apply
to the business case and then the liability regulations in
case something goes wrong, or a drone would crash. 4.1 Scan Results Per Business Case
4.1.1 Scan Results Drones Equipped with Camera
3.1.2 And What Must Be Done to Develop These? Systems
Then to answer the follow-up research question a theoretical Drones that are equipped with camera systems score a 6.8 on the
framework was introduced to give insight into the success factors social dimension. Stakeholders and their wishes of the business
of the new-product development process and the ways of case are identified on a sufficient level. The drones are already
managing the new-product development process through being experimented with and evaluated by the Dutch fire
boundary spanning communication and cooperation and learning department. Both infrared and normal camera systems are used
the adoption process of new products. This theoretical to monitor, detect and stream. There are several use-cases for this
framework will provide a basis from which questions about the kind of innovation. It can be used to monitor areas of nature
development of the different domains of the potential business reserves, industrial areas and other areas with a high risk on fire
cases can be answered. The different business cases will be incidents. Next to that the ability of the drones equipped with
compared amongst each other and there will follow some advice cameras to detect where the source of the fire is located and
to proceed with these new innovations. mapping out how a fire is spreading is of importance. This
business case scores a 7 on the ethical dimension. The aim of the
drone is clear and solves real-world problems. If first responders
4. RESULTS know how a fire is developing, it makes the risk assessment of
The interviews with experts have given information that was first responders much easier. Next to that early detection of for
sufficient for filling in the quick scan tool from Space53 instance wildfires could lead to early containment of a wildfire.
(appendix A). The results of the scan per business case are shown Early containment of a wildfire leads to limited damage to the
nature and potential cost savings. The safety of the business case improvement. There is doubt about the ability of the innovation
is considered, and it will help making fire incident safer. to provide enough cooling capacity to suppress a wildfire. Only
Automation of this business case depends on the use-situation; in combination with very early detection a swarm of drones will
monitoring drones must be automated to be of use, while drones be able to carry enough extinguishing liquid to be of help. Next
that are used to map out a fire incident could be done by operators to that there is doubt about the acceptance of this innovation. A
flying them. This business case scores a 9 on the technical swarm of drones flying towards a wildfire means a radical
dimension, which is the highest score that is possible. This comes change, by which subjects such as perceived trust will be
forth from the fact that this system is already proven to be affected. On the ethical scale this innovation scores a 4. The aim
working through successful mission operations. On the business of the drone is clear, but the chance of succeeding is doubted.
dimension this business case scores a 6.7, indicating a sufficient Safety risks of the drones is considered the same as with normal
TRL. The customer and value proposition are clear and well drones that are flying, keeping in mind that because this
addressed. The market could be scalable if this innovation could innovation requires flying with a much larger quantity of drones,
be expanded for the use in other sectors as well. On the legal the risk that something will go wrong will be multiplied by the
dimension this business case scores an 8.2, which indicates an number of drones. There is doubt about the automation of such a
excellent level. The Dutch fire brigade can fly anywhere with this drone swarm, could it be automated to function as a preventive
drone, but only if there is a motive to fly with it like an incident firefighting solution, or does it actually require an operator to fly
or an experiment. There is even an exemption for the no-flight with it. The mental distance an operator can have to the drones
zones that are located in the Netherlands. Privacy legislation is could be big, considering an operator does not have the ability to
considered, since the drones make camera footage on which pay attention to more one drone at a time. The business case
civilians could be recorded. The footage is streamed to a video scores a 5 on the technical dimension. A TRL of 5 indicates that
management system that stores the footage for 28 days before it the innovation is ready for experimentation, however this is not
gets destroyed. Legislation for another potential customer group done yet. Experiments need to be done, especially on the
is also considered, namely the customers that want to monitor a extinguishing capacity such innovation could have. On the
large industrial area. These areas are private and therefore it is business dimension this business case scores a 5.1. It is clear
easy to stick to legislation practices. what gains and pains the customer will have with this innovation.
The value proposition is good, as long as the swarm can bring
enough cooling capacity. This still needs to be experimented
4.1.2 Scan Results Sniffer’ Drones with. The market itself is more doubtful, since the only customer
‘Sniffer’ drones score a 6.5 on the social dimension of the quick that would want such an innovation is a fire department. Fire
scan tool. This again indicates a sufficient level of social departments are non-profit organizations that have to pay new
readiness. Similar to the drones that are equipped with camera equipment with tax money. To get permission to buy new
systems it is clear which stakeholder the business case has and equipment, a fire department needs to have a clear view on the
which use-situations it could apply to. The sniffer drones are also benefits of the innovation in comparison to current systems and
already being flown with by the Dutch fire brigade. A sniffer the ability of the innovation to generate cost-savings on the long-
drone could measure what kind of chemicals are released into the term. Therefore, fire departments are generally not the
air when a fire incident occurs, or it could detect the location of organizations that are the first movers when it comes to new
the source coming from a smoke cloud. This would mean it innovations. On the legal dimension this business case scores a
would help first responders to make a risk assessment for the 6.4. The fire department could get permission to experiment with
clouds of smoke that move towards civilized areas. On the ethical a business case like this, and from there get permission to also
dimension sniffer drones score an 8, which is an excellent use it in real-world situations. The privacy legislation is
readiness level. The aim of the drone is clear, and the usefulness comparable to the privacy legislation for the drones that are
is perceived by customers. A sniffer drone will help with trust equipped with camera systems.
perceptions by stakeholders: a clearer specification of the air can
be given. The ease of use is an important factor in this business
case as well as in the preceding business case, since educational 4.1.4 Scan Results Drones Equipped with Fire-
requirements will be kept reasonable. A sniffer drone can be extinguishing Balls
either automated or non-automated depending on the use This business case scores a 3.6 on the social dimension, which
situations. Similarly, to the drones equipped with camera indicates that it is still in very early stages of development. The
systems, this depends on the deviation between monitoring and stakeholders are clear; could be companies that want to brace
detecting drones. This business case again scores a 9 on the themselves for potential fire incident danger, or fire departments
technical dimension, indicating that the system at hand is already that are searching for a specific extinguishing mechanism. The
working. On the business dimension this innovation scores a 7.5, design is still fairly open, the fire-extinguishing balls could
which is a very good readiness level. Again, this business case combinate with the preceding business case, mounting a fire-
fulfills customer needs, and its value proposition is sufficient. extinguishing ball on every drone in the swarm. Next to that an
The market is expandable to different sectors other than only the infrastructure needs to be developed for the drone to work
firefighting one, and therefore it scores high. This business case properly, doors or hatches need to be opened for the drone to get
scores an 8.2 on the legal dimension. Legislation is similar to the to location. On the ethical dimension this business case scores a
drones equipped with camera systems, except for the difference 3, which also indicates an early development phase. The aim of
in privacy legislation. No private data is collected in this business the drone is clear, but there is doubt if it brings benefits in
case and therefore privacy legislation is not too relevant. comparison to other systems. Could it serve a large industrial
area better than a sprinkler system that is likely to be in place
currently? The drone should be fully automated to be of optimal
4.1.3 Scan Results Firefighting Drones Swarm use. The technical dimension shows a score of 6 for this business
On the quick scan tool this business case scores lower than the case. Experiments with single fire-extinguishing drones are
preceding two business cases. On the social dimensions it scores being done already, and further experiments are to come. On the
a 4.9, indicating a moderate level of readiness. Stakeholders are business dimension it scores a 4.3. The customers benefits that it
identified, while the design of the innovation still needs would bring are clear, but the value proposition is not strong
enough to persuade customers to adopt this innovation yet. Cost The business cases can be divided into two categories: Non-
will be the biggest point of attention, since this will be the extinguishing innovations and extinguishing innovations. The
decisive factor to adopt this innovation instead of a sprinkler first group consists of the drones that are equipped with camera
system. The potential market it could have is fairly big, because systems and ‘sniffer’ drones. Both of these technologies are
it could serve the industry sector, which is a big sector. On the already in the advanced stages of the development process. In
legal dimension this business case scores a 6.6. This business some cases, these drones are already used in real-life situations,
case will be of application on private areas, implicating that and they have proven to have a significant value proposition.
legislation should not be a big problem. Examples of use cases for the drone with camera systems is
monitoring vast areas for fire incidents or mapping out a fire
incident for better information provision for first responders. Use
4.1.5 Scan Results Drones Equipped with Ifex’ cases for the ‘sniffer’ drones could be the measurement of
Impulse Firefighting Gun chemicals in a cloud of smoke, or the localization of a fire.
This business case scores a 4.7 on the social dimension. The Next to that these two business cases have shown to be multi-
stakeholders are clear. The best use this innovation would have deployable, and so they could also serve other markets than only
is to serve as a quick suppressing tool in an industrial area, when the firefighting market. Examples of other application cases
a notification of a fire incidents is put forth. The design is clear; could be gas-pipe leakage localization, monitoring volcanic
with a relatively small amount of extinguishing liquid, a prone areas, water pollution mapping.21 The fact that these two
relatively large cooling capacity can be realized. Similar to the business cases could address several purposes is a big factor in
preceding business case, for this innovation to be working future success of these non-extinguishing innovations.
properly the infrastructure of the industrial area must be
The second category of non-extinguishing innovations consists
optimized. The business case scores a 4 on the ethical dimension.
of three innovations: the firefighting drones swarm, the drones
The aim of the drone is clear and shows significant benefits for
that are equipped with fire-extinguishing balls and drones
the customers. The combination of the impulse firefighting gun
equipped with Ifex’ impulse firefighting gun. Beginning with the
mounted on a drone allows for optimal use of the potential of the
firefighting drones swarm, this innovation could be of use for
firefighting gun, since you can go very close to the fire with a
fighting against wildfires. Wildfire incidents are increasing
drone compared to a human first-responder. Automation of the
because of climate change and vegetation of the nature
drones must be available to reach the full potential of this
reserves. 22 This indicates a growing need for wildfire
business case. The technical dimension of this innovation has a
TRL of 6 again, indicating that experiments are being planned to suppression solutions. However, because this solution is
specifically developed for fire departments, the sales market will
investigate the technical readiness further. In the coming months
remain limited. This innovation will need operators that are
experiments will be done to further develop the synergy between
specially qualified to fly with swarms of drones, therefore the
the drones and the Ifex technology. On the business dimension
ease of use of this innovation is not one of its stronger points.
this business case scores a 4.7. The value proposition of the
innovation has potential, as long as the factor costs are taken into Next to that the extinguishing capacity of the innovation will not
be sufficient for wildfires as for now, unless the detection of the
consideration. For companies to adopt this innovation, the costs
wildfire is very early.
of purchasing the whole system (infrastructure and the drone
itself) must be lower than the purchase of an advanced sprinkler The business cases of drones equipped with fire-extinguishing
system. The market that could be addressed and the legislation of balls and drones equipped with Ifex’ impulse firefighting gun
the business case is similar to the preceding business case. both have use cases in serving as fire suppression tools in
Therefore, this business case scores a similar 6.6 on the legal industrial areas. These drones require an infrastructure that could
dimension. lead them though buildings, with sensors opening doors and
hatches to let these drones through. Therefore, costs for
purchasing and installing the drones plus the infrastructure need
5. DISCUSSION to be taken into consideration. They could replace sprinkler
This study aims to map out the possibilities of drone application systems for these kinds of factories or plants, as long as this will
for firefighting. The goal was to identify several potential mean cost savings for the companies.
business cases and then find out how to develop these. 5 potential
business cases were identified from a combination of literature
research and field research. Then interviews were conducted to 5.2 Theoretical Foundation
contribute to the quick scan tool of Space53. Several findings To decide on further directions when it comes to developing the
came to light as the expert interviews were conducted. different business cases, the theory from the theoretical
framework needs to be applied to our findings.

5.1 Main Findings

This study has revealed that fire departments are relatively not 5.2.1 Drivers of Success in New-product
the biggest of customers, since these are non-profit organizations Development
and are paying for new solution with tax-payers money. If drones As stated in the theoretical framework earlier on in this research,
are purchased by fire departments this will be in small quantities. this theory identifies several individual new product drivers of
This implicates a need for the firefighting solutions to be success.23 The factors that must be applied:
deployable in other organizations as well.
- Unique superior products: the business cases that were
identified show differentiation from other systems that

21 23
Kuantama, E., Tarca, R., Dzitac, S., Dzitac, I., Vesselenyi, T., Cooper, R. G. (2019)
& Tarca, I. (2019).
22
Goss, M., Swain, D. L., Abatzoglou, J. T., Sarhadi, A., Kolden,
C. A., Williams, A. P., & Diffenbaugh, N. S. (2020).
 are in place now for firefighting. The fire extinguishing the business cases should take into consideration were identified,
business cases are very different from extinguishing such as the cost of the innovation, educational requirement (ease
techniques that are being used in the market currently. of use), multi-functionality and in some cases the amount of
The non-extinguishing business cases need to extinguishing capacity. It was also found that focusing solely on
differentiate by better development than the drones that fire departments as customers could be aiming for a very small
are in place now at the fire department. sales market, hence it is important that the business innovation
- Products should be market-driven and VoC (voice of can also serve other customers. These findings indicated a
the customer) should be built in: As done in this study, segregation in short-term and long-term business cases.
the voice of the customer was asked for and a look was The non-extinguishing business case could be of use for the short
taken at the market. However, this needs to be explored term. The drones that are equipped with camera systems can
deeper and there is a need for more information. There monitor vast areas for fire incidents or map out a fire incident for
must be listened to demands that customers have of the better information provision for first responders. The ‘sniffer’
innovations they are due to purchase. This could be drones could measure the chemicals in a cloud of smoke, or the
about the ease of use of the drone, the extinguishing localization of a fire. These two innovations have a larger scope
capacity or the heat resistance. than firefighting only, since they can be used in other sectors as
- Pre-development work must be done: further market well. This implicates a bigger market potential than the other
assessment and technological assessment must be done business cases. These drones need to be made robust and have to
to validate the business cases. Next to that financial be able to function in dynamic environments. In an ideal situation
analysis should be made to determine if these business a drone should be made that has both the functions of a camera
cases will have cost benefits for companies that would system, and a system that can measure the chemicals that are in
adopt them. the air.
- Sharp, early and fact-based product definition: A start
has been made for defining the products in these The drones that have the ability to extinguish fire are innovations
business cases, but further decisions must be made. that lie further in the future. The firefighting drone swarms can
Decisions for example about the automation of the be used for suppression of wildfires. Wildfires are increasing and
business cases must be defined. therefore these drones could provide a firefighting solution in the
- A global orientation should be used for the production future. However, for now the extinguishing capacity of this
of the business cases: all business cases are not innovation is not sufficient for suppressing wildfires yet, only if
restricted to the home market of the Netherlands; these wildfires are detected at a very early stage. Development
therefore, they could be expanded towards other on the technology is necessary. Another hurdle that needs to be
countries. taken is the ease of use of this innovation, since it is difficult for
an operator to fly with a big swarm of drones.
The drones that are equipped with fire-extinguishing balls and
5.2.2 Point of Adoption and Beyond the Ifex’ impulse firefighting gun have use cases to serve as a
The main implications that this study shows is that the biggest suppression tool of small industrial fire incidents. These drones
factors of impact on the adoption and continuation of a new require an infrastructure to be installed to be of use inside
innovation by a customer are the factors of initial trust and buildings. This infrastructure needs to determine the location of
perceived usefulness. The relationship starts with initial trust the fire and needs to be able to open doors and hatches to let the
massively impacting perceived usefulness, then perceived fire-extinguishing drone through. The main point of focus on
usefulness positively impact the continuation intention of the future research on these innovations is if they would be able to
customer. Therefore, to develop the business cases it is important replace sprinkler systems that are in place in most industrial areas
to conquer the initial trust of potential customers.24 This can be as of now. This ability to replace those systems is mainly a cost
done through: consideration. Therefore, focus should be on costs while
- Clear description of the benefits that a business case developing these innovations. As of now the sprinkler systems
could bring to the customer. Confront the customer that are in place do not require replacing, and this means that
with hard fact about the business case. these two business cases are also long-term focused. The
- Show how the business case would work in practice, difference in extinguishing capacity needs to be experimented
either by making a video of the use of the business case with.
or showing customers in real-life by making them The theoretical framework gave an insight in how to proceed
attend experiments or showcases. with developing the several business cases. It indicated a need
for differentiation, good communication, trust and cooperation.
To give an advice, drone companies that are looking for a
6. CONCLUSION business case that they can implement in the coming years and
This study aimed to identify, assess and give direction to
that can serve a lot of customers, the first two business cases of
different business cases in the application of drone technology drones with camera systems and ‘sniffers’ should be considered,
for firefighting. Five business cases were selected by a
with an opportunity to possibly combine the two. These
combination of literature and field research. Interviews with
innovations are of use for the firefighting department but are also
experts were conducted and this information was used to work of use in other sectors such as gas-pipe leakage localization,
with the quick scan tool from the company Space53. The monitoring volcanic prone areas, water pollution mapping. If
business cases that were selected are drones equipped with
drone technology companies want to take their chance with this
camera systems, ‘sniffer’ drones, firefighting drones swarm, innovation, further market research is required to have a clear
drones equipped with fire-extinguishing balls and drones
overview of the possible use cases and potential customer
equipped with Ifex’ impulse firefighting gun. Several factors that

24
Talwar, S., Dhir, A., Khalil, A., Mohan, G., & Islam, A. N.
(2020)
groups. At least one customer group was identified in this The first thing to consider for drone application for firefighting
research, which is the fire department. is: is it worth it to replace current systems with drones? And how
are these technologies beneficial to the firefighting process? Next
to that future research in the field of drone technology application
7. LIMITATIONS & FUTURE for firefighting must be done on better development of the non-
RESEARCH extinguishing business cases to improve the product itself, for
instance making it multi-functional. Further research must be
This research was conducted by assessing five potential business
cases for the application of drone technology for firefighting. done on the use cases of the extinguishing business cases. These
innovations need other use cases for them to have a solid base to
This excludes other potential business cases, and this needs to be
develop. To be of use for the firefighting department, more
taken into consideration. A possibility of missing successful
research is needed to assess if the extinguishing capacity of the
business cases in this study is present.
different business cases is sufficient for the use cases that they
The sample size of the interviews in this study is of 4 experts. were developed for.
This is a relatively small sample size and therefore the results that
were drawn from the interviews could be non-existent. Another
limitation is that the interviews were translated to the quick scan 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
tool by the researcher. Mistakes in the translation to the scanning I would like to thank the graduation committee members of my
tool could be made. thesis Raymond Loohuis and Petra De Weerd-Nederhof for their
guidance in the process of writing my bachelor thesis. Next to that I
would like to thank Space53 and then especially Marc Sandelowsky and
Niels Kadijk for their help in conducting my research.
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APPENDIX - The Dutch fire department is relatively not a big sales
market.
Appendix A - Educational requirements are very important for the
adoption of new drone technologies.
These are short summaries with the most important points of - Cost consideration is also the biggest factor for
the interviews that were conducted with four experts: companies that want to implement a new innovation
for industrial areas. Is a firefighting drone better that
Expert A – specialized on drones at the Dutch fire the firefighting systems that are in place now?
department
- Tests are being conducted by the Dutch fire department
using drones with sniffer and camera system drones. Expert C – Specialized on wildfires
- The Dutch fire department has exemption for no-flight - The increase of wildfires will increase in the coming
zones in the Netherlands. years because of climate change and vegetation of the
- They are allowed to fly anywhere where there is a nature reserves.
motive to fly, even above civilians if they are informed. - Potential for drones in the areas of monitoring and
- Also allowed to fly at big events with more than 100 detection of wildfires in nature reserves.
people if there is a motive. - Early detection of wildfires to contain them. If the fire
- Privacy legislation: camera footage is stored in a video brigade can be present earlier, the damage can remain
management system which stores the footage for 28 limited.
day before it gets destroyed. If the footage needs to be - The first half hour of the wildfires is the most
stored for longer than those 28 days, the people that are important to act on.
on the footage will get blurred. - Detecting where the seat of the fire is. A fire can be
- Entering private areas is also allowed as long as the mapped out by using drones with cameras.
owner is informed. - Combination of camera and location is very important
- The Dutch fire brigade is insured for any incidents with to make a map of the fire.
their drones. - For wildfires there needs to be a lot of cooling capacity
- Green light for experiments with fire-extinguishing to suppress a fire. This is difficult on fire-extinguishing
drones. drones.
- Fire-extinguishing drones is an innovation for the long- - In combination with very early detection fire-
term. extinguishing drones could work.

Expert B – Specialized on innovation for the Dutch Expert D – specialized on drone technology
fire department - Drones equipped with camera systems are at a level of
- Potential to apply drone technology on the field of TRL 9. Depending on the type of drone and the type of
monitoring and detecting for fire incidents. camera system they are able to monitor a large area.
- One of the most important factors for the Dutch fire - The technological readiness of the firefighting drone
department to adopt new innovations is the cost. swarms is far. However there experiments still need to
- The Dutch fire brigade is a non-profit organization that be done.
has to use tax-money to buy new equipment, therefore - The firefighting drone swarms will be able to function
the fire brigade normally is not the first mover when it either autonomously or with an operator. The aim will
comes to innovations. be to make them autonomous.
- The added value of a new innovation needs to be taken - In the coming months experiments will be done with
into consideration to free up money for the new drones that are equipped with the Ifex impulse
innovation. firefighting gun.
- Security region needs to be persuaded to adopt new
innovations. Also based on cost savings on the long-
term.