Team 43: DropSense
Abstract
DropSense is a lightweight, rapidly deployable weather station designed to fill the microclimate data gaps that leave wildfire responders flying blind. Existing Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) are often 30–100 miles from an active fire, too far to capture the localized wind, temperature, humidity, and pressure conditions that drive fire behavior. DropSense addresses this directly.
The module features a self-leveling tripod powered by three linear actuators, an onboard IMU, and a weather-sealed electronics enclosure, allowing it to autonomously level on slopes up to 20° and begin transmitting real-time sensor data via long-range (LoRa) radio within minutes of deployment. It runs on a solar-rechargeable 12V battery capable of 48+ hours of operation without sunlight. The entire system assembles tool-free by a single person and packs into a standard backpacking pack, weighing under 40 lbs which allows for the rapid deployment of this weather station in hard to reach areas near an active fire line.
At roughly $1,850 in production cost, compared to $25,000 for a traditional RAWS installation, DropSense enables the kind of dense spatial coverage that makes high-resolution fire weather data affordable and achievable in the field.
Sponsor
DropSense
Director
Kelsey Scalaro
Team Members
- Jack Mulvaney
- Josh Shewbridge
- Jonathan Trigg
- Bryce Sohayda
- Jojo Pearson
- Sam Ceraso