XPRIZE Wildfire

FLARE-X

A collaboration between The University of Texas at Austin (UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences and Cockrell School of Engineering), University of Southampton, University of Edinburgh, TU Delft and Texas A&M Forest Service.

XPRIZE Wildfire

A is a 4-year, $11 million competition incentivizing the innovation of firefighting technologies that will end destructive wildfires so that humanity and beneficial wildfire can safely co-exist. The prize aims to transform current wildfire management approaches through the development of new technologies that can rapidly and accurately detect, characterize, and respond to wildfires before they become destructive.

FLARE-X Solution

The team’s solution uses a heterogeneous set of uncrewed autonomous UAV systems equipped with various sensors with state-of-the-art motion planning and data processing algorithms to cover large areas, detect wildfires and coordinate suppression. High-performance suppression drones will then carry sufficient suppressants to suppress incipient fires. The overall solution will use a combination of edge computing, radio links and user interfaces to achieve accurate and speedy detection and suppression.

In the News

Partners

"Amid the devastating wildfires worldwide, most recently in Los Angeles, I am committed to developing new technology to fight back, turning robust innovations into a force for good. We are building an aerial fleet of early warning systems to detect and suppress fires before they escalate into catastrophes.”

MOHAMMAD SOORATI

Assistant Professor
The University of Southampton
FLARE-X is a collaboration between The University of Texas at Austin (UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences and Cockrell School of Engineering), University of Southampton, University of Edinburgh, TU Delft and Texas A&M Forest Service.
© 2025 FLARE-X, The University of Texas at Austin