A team of teachers and students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dharwad, led by Sudheer Siddapureddy and Ameer Mulla, has developed a fire rescue assistant drone.

• The project was completed with funding from TiHAN Foundation, IIT Hyderabad (NMICPS, Government of India).
• The unveiling and demonstration of the fire rescue assistant drone was held during the two-day workshop on Drone Design and Autonomous Navigation in Fire Rescue (DDANFR 2024) held at IIT Dharwad on May 31 and June 1.
• The event was organised by the Fire and Thermal Research Laboratory (FTRL) and the Control Systems and Robotics Laboratory. The fire rescue assistant drone is said to be the first of its kind.
• Elaborating on the new fire rescue assistant drone, Prof. Siddapureddy, who is faculty in-charge at FTRL, said that it was challenging to design a drone small enough to navigate indoor spaces and capable of withstanding high temperatures.