K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
Nestled amidst cypress trees and a blanket of thick coastal fog lies an inconspicuous workshop where Parallel Flight drones are being tinkered with and tested. The "Firefly" — weighing 120 pounds — looks only faintly like its hobbyist cousins and more resembles a small aircraft. It stands roughly 3 feet tall and has a more than 5-foot wingspan. And here, form is function. The startup's drones are specialized to transport heavy loads: firefighting supplies, industrial packages and even human organs for transplants. "Drones are going to get bigger and we're leading the way," said Parallel Flight Technologies CEO Joshua Resnick. "We're building something that's an autonomous workhorse, that can actually carry big stuff around."
Helicopters and aircraft have long been used to fight wildfires and ferry crews to remote locations. But those resources are expensive, often in high demand during peak fire season, and can be limited by bad visibility. Parallel Flight aims to fill that gap. "What we don't have are essentially pickup trucks of the sky," Resnick said. "We don't have workhorses that can bring supplies to firefighters on the front lines or drop off payloads to do controlled burns, and we don't have drones that can put small fires out. Parallel Flight drones are equipped to fly from two to seven hours continuously. Most other industrial drones on the market take to the sky for 15 minutes to an hour.
Continue reading: https://www.governing.com/next/california-companys-heavy-duty-drones-to-help-fight-wildfires
Helicopters and aircraft have long been used to fight wildfires and ferry crews to remote locations. But those resources are expensive, often in high demand during peak fire season, and can be limited by bad visibility. Parallel Flight aims to fill that gap. "What we don't have are essentially pickup trucks of the sky," Resnick said. "We don't have workhorses that can bring supplies to firefighters on the front lines or drop off payloads to do controlled burns, and we don't have drones that can put small fires out. Parallel Flight drones are equipped to fly from two to seven hours continuously. Most other industrial drones on the market take to the sky for 15 minutes to an hour.
Continue reading: https://www.governing.com/next/california-companys-heavy-duty-drones-to-help-fight-wildfires
