Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

In this study, the design of a microcontroller based early forest fire detection and warning system is described. The system can be installed in a forest and it consists of a network of microcontroller based fire detection sensors and long-range RF transmitter–receiver modules. As soon as a fire is detected, the system sends warning messages to the relevant emergency command and control centres so that appropriate action can be taken as soon as possible to put off the fire and minimize the damage.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to develop and design a low power microcontroller based early forest fire detection system.

Methods/statistical analysis: The system described in this study consists of a network of microcontroller based fire detection sensors and long-range raw RF transmitter/receiver modules, scattered around a forest. The system uses low power microcontrollers which are kept in deep sleep mode most of the time, thus conserving power which is one of the novelties of the designed system.

Findings: One of the aims of this study has been to design a low power early forest fire detection and warning system. The designed system makes use of specially selected microcontrollers which can operate in deep sleep modes and as a result they can be configured to consume low currents. The results showed that the current consumption in deep sleep mode was only 10 mA, which is in general much lower than the current consumption of most ordinary microcontrollers. With such low power consumption, it should be possible to operate the overall system for longer hours before the batteries need charging via solar energy cells. Most forest fire detection systems rely on Bluetooth, ZigBee, WiFi, or similar technology for communication, which is not practical to implement in a forest environment. The designed system makes use of raw RF for communication which is normally available and very reliable.

Application/improvements: The early forest fire detection and warning system described in this article can be improved by using arrays of multiple scattered sensors.

Keywords: Forest Fire, Early Fire Detection and Warning, Early Warning System, ESP32, DevkitC.