Prometheus System

Prometheus aims to be able to detect and extinguish wildfire outbreaks before they reach the ignition point and, consequently, prevent the enthalpy of combustion from occurring.

 Wildfires affect large hectares of land, forest, or wild. These types of fires are known for being unplanned, unmanaged, and uncontrolled.

 There is a formula, known as the 30's formula, that refers to the confluence of meteorological conditions that considerably increase the risk:

•  Temperature above 30 degrees
• Winds higher than 30 Km/h
• Relativity air humidity lower than 30%

Also, there are four phases to starting a fire:

•  Preheating: the heat source raises the temperature of the fuel. 
• 100°C: Moisture begins to be lost in the form of vapor. 
• 200°C: The volatile compounds in the cellulose begin to evaporate.  
• 300°/400°C: Structural gasification and ignition of the combustible material begin.
•  500°/600°C: Autonomous combustion and enthalpy of combustion begin.

 This enthalpy is a thermodynamic magnitude that represents the energy released when a mol of organic substance reacted with oxygen in the air and released carbon dioxide.

 According to the World Health Organization, 50% of wildfires are of unknown origin.

 During 2020, the number of forest fires in Argentina exceeded 74,000, an increase of 150% compared to 2019.

 During 2021, it was the third country in Latin America with the highest number of wildfires, behind only Brazil, which accounted for approximately 184,000 wildfire outbreaks, and Bolivia, which recorded more than 34,000 outbreaks.

In Argentina, more than one million hectares have been lost due to fire and more than twenty species native to our country have died.

One of the ecosystems most affected is the Esteros del Iberá, a wetland of enormous ecological value with a surface area of 1,300,000 hectares, of which 768,000 hectares form one of the largest protected areas in the country. In South America, only the Brazilian Pantanal is larger than Iberá.

A capybara, a large rodent abundant in the grasslands of Corrientes, burned to death during the fires in the Argentine province.

Corrientes, the most affected province in Argentina in 2021, has a great diversity of environments. INTA, the National Institute of Agricultural Technology, detailed that 123,899 hectares of estuaries and other marshes, 123,567 hectares of scrubland, 41,037 hectares of alluvial valley vegetation, 22,509 hectares of native forests, and 12,536 hectares of cultivated forests have been burned.

Estimates by the Argentine Federation of the Wood Industry and Allied Industries (Federación Argentina de la Industria Maderera y Afines) indicated that the economic losses caused by forest fires amount to $3.850 billion.

 Many species were run over on roads or highways, trying to save themselves from the fire.

Monkey burned in the October 2020 fires in San Cayetano provincial park, Corrientes, Argentina

 In the United States, The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) notified, in 2022, 7667 wildfires, 363.939 estimated acres burned, and 876 structures were harmed: of which 772 were completely destroyed.

 The CAL FIRE 2023 Incidents Overview indicates that on date January, 23rd there have been already 30 incidents of wildfire.

Prometheus aims to be the solution to mitigate wildfires before they can spread and become autonomous (reach the enthalpy of combustion); that is, even if the heat source is removed, the fire will continue to feed and grow.

For this purpose, different solutions were conceived, varying according to budget and scenarios.

In the first instance, it is planned that miniature drones can be equipped with cameras capable of capturing photons (light particles carrying the electromagnetic interaction). Based on that, a second wave of drones with better definitions would capture the geospatial or thermographic image. These drones will fly over the affected area and be equipped with thermal cameras. Through them, it will be possible to locate fire outbreaks before they reach 500 degrees Celsius (932 degrees Fahrenheit).

 Depending on the type of spectrum, the type of ignition, and the type of surface it is intended to notify forest rangers and fire stations directly. If it is out of their control or exits any other type of danger, an omnidirectional drone will be required to go to the scene.

 Thanks to its geolocator, and depending on the terrain type, the drone guide will send the coordinates to hydrant drones or remote-controlled robot(s) to reach the localized area quickly.

Due to data analysis, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the Prometheus System will become increasingly accurate and efficient.

 It is intended, in turn, to use demineralized water, which passes through a filter about three times and leaves no secondary damage.

 The Prometheus System is designed to mitigate wildfires. This means fires that affect large hectares of land, forest, or wild. These types of fires are known for being unplanned, unmanaged, and uncontrolled fires.
 
  In principle, the Prometheus System is intended to be implemented in provinces of Argentina with high (wild)fire probabilities. It will be beneficial not only for the inhabitants of those lands, the areas themselves, and the peripheral ones. As Argentina is a country with different types of relief, climates, and environments, the Prometheus System will be able to correct its failures and improve its successes in different scenarios that are similar to other parts of the world.

  One-fifth of Argentina's territory is made up of wetlands, ecosystems that, in addition to providing fresh water, are fantastic carbon sinks that help us face the climate crisis.

 Unfortunately, there are where most forest fires occur.

 Since Argentina is an agro-exporting country, preventing fires in lands dedicated to livestock and agriculture would mean help the stability of the national economy.

 Besides economical and environmental prejudice and according to the World Health Organization:

  Wildfires or forest fires can significantly impact mortality and morbidity depending on the size, speed, and proximity to the fire, and whether the population has an advanced warning to evacuate.

Wildfire smoke is a mixture of air pollutants of which particulate matter is the principal public health threat.

Infants, young children, pregnant women, and older adults are more susceptible to health impacts from smoke and ash, which are important air pollutants.  Smoke and ash from wildfires can significantly impact those with pre-existing respiratory or heart disease. Firefighters and emergency response workers are also greatly affected by injuries, burns, and smoke inhalation.

Wildfires, mere to mention, also release significant amounts of mercury into the air, which can lead to impairment of speech, hearing, and walking, muscle weakness, and vision problems for people of all ages.

My team at this stage (an idea) consists only of me. That leads to some advantages, for example:

 I was born and raised in Argentina. I have seen and constantly keep watching the problems that forest fires trigger at an economic, environmental, physical, and psychological level (many people have lost everything they had. Others have developed serious health problems due to wildfire pollutants).

 I have dedicated myself to creating, reinventing, and learning everything necessary to cover all possible alternatives.

  The Prometheus System became the winning project of the Favaloro University Science Fair, which was a good start.

  I have a good relationship and important contacts with both: the UniversityTorcuato Di Tella, where I am a scholar, and the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology (Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires), where I also won a scholarship. Both are two of the most prestigious private universities in the country and have financed and worked on projects with national and international impact.

 Being part of the Latin American Leadership Academy network allows me to be in contact with young leaders from other parts of Latin America, who can contribute their ideas and visions of their respective countries.

With all the above mentioned, after conceiving Prometheus, I imbibed all the technical aspects of machine building and its respective programming.

I won The Next Generation Tech Booster Scholarship to study "Programming for Data Science in Phyton". It is important to mention it because Data Science is an essential aspect of Prometheus.

 Also, being chosen as Aspire Leader fellow (by the Aspire Leader Institute founded by Harvard University) allows me to belong to a network to keep in touch with different innovators all around the world.

 Of course, I would never discard working in the future with other people as enthusiastic and passionate to create a solution as I do. I hope to learn and work alongside people that will profit and bring benefits not just to the project, but to the injured ones themselves.

 First and foremost, I can consider myself part of the target population of my solution.  

Although the project was conceived a year and a half ago, I have been studying the impact of the fire on both: the land and the lives of the people affected for longer.

 I am a Political Science student, focusing mainly on Public Policy. Before Prometheus, I was working on some bills to prevent the spread of fires, or integrate better inputs to firefighters, mostly volunteers.

 I must mention that volunteer firefighters helped me a lot to understand how the methods they use to mitigate fires work and to know what is needed.

 Mainly, the lack of speed to act on the affected area, either due to lack of mobility, impenetrable areas, or insufficient supplies, makes the effectiveness of extinguishing them less and less.

Also, I have the benefit to work and spreading my doubts with, in my opinion, the two most valuable people when I refer to technological and scientific issues:

 Franco Rodriguez Viau: co-founder and CEO of Satellites on Fire, a real-time wildfire detection that reduces the loss of forest assets through the early detection of wildfires using satellite imagery.

Manuel Sztejnberg: Director of the Medical Physics Engineering Program at Favaloro University and researcher of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA)

While there are current robots that help mitigate fires (such as Colossus, which helped in the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, or the Thermite RS3, which works with the Los Angeles Fire Department), this type of technology is not currently deployed for fires that cover so many hectares.

 There are drones that are currently used to detect wildfire outbreaks, such as Fénix 3D developed by LifeStyle Media, but its battery lasts only forty minutes.

There are different options nowadays, but as far as I am concerned, all of them can be seen as incompleted: if they detect, they do not mitigate, and vice versa.

 That is why Prometheus is pretended not just to be a firefighting robot (omnidirectional land robot or hydrant drone) but is intended to be a system that includes geolocation as well as a mitigation system.

•  Obtain the necessary funding so that the project can become, at least, a feasible prototype and gain partnerships.
•  Promote it as much as possible to achieve state importance and start conversations about possible implementations, at least in some provinces.

 The way to achieve this is to be one of the chosen ones of MIT Solve 2023, in order to have the help and mentoring needed to stop being just an idea and start fulfilling its mission and what it was conceived for: to locate and extinguish fires and improve people's lives.

Phyton: programming language used for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Data Science: to compile all the necessary information about fires, terrain, and others

Artificial Intelligence: To create new neural connections in order to make the detection and sending of the localization more and more effective.

Drones: with thermographic and geographical cameras, as well as quantic cameras to detect photons (as the one created by MIT: the fastest camera).

Omnidirectional robots: equipped with Mecanum wheels that allow designers of intelligent robots to create drivetrains capable of moving in any direction using a standard chassis shape.

 Arduino: to create the drivetrains and the programming of the robots (as well as the drones).

Due to Prometheus is still an idea, it is uncertain how many people would help in the next year.

 It is important to mention that the main victims of wildfires are lands, not necessarily people.

 Being optimistic, and considering a scenario where the system is used in only just one province (to give an indicative example) we can talk about saving more than 2000 lives (from the pollutants to the fire itself) and stopping the loss of, approximately, $26 million of pesos (142,879 Dollars) and more than half of the farmers lands.

The existing barriers are both in the financial and technical areas.

  I do not have the resources to create a prototype because I do not have financing.

 In the technical area, although I am a curious person and dedicated to learning everything necessary to carry out the project, I do not have the adequate professional training necessary to develop the project safely.

 I would need engineers and field specialists, to name a few.

I do not work yet with any organizations, even though I have talked about future plans with Satellites on Fire, Muchnik Group, and Experts from the Andean-Patagonian Forestry Research and Extension Center.

• I offer an efficient method to detect and mitigate fire before its ignition point and massive spread.
• I offer it, mainly, to governments or independent states.
• With Prometheus are cost savings (in areas where fire affected customizable lands of trade), time savings, customer satisfaction as well as customized feedback of new perks or ideas that should be implemented. Mere to mention, help to climate change and the ecosystems themselves
• Prometheus differs from others because tends to be a complete system: from geolocalize, detect (prevent) to mitigate.

• Nowadays, the size of the market is still stable.
• The demand for the services is increasing due to the increase of wildfires

The path to financial sustainability is to sell services and make contracts mainly to governments, as well as being part of investment wheels in order to raise investment capital and sell actions.