BurnBot can help US fight wildfires with safer, prescribed burns

BurnBot is an innovative technology developed to improve prescribed burns in California, aiming to address the state's escalating wildfire crisis. Unlike traditional methods such as hand-firing, which are slow, labor-intensive, and constrained by weather and safety concerns, BurnBot offers a remotely operated precision blackline machine that completes burns three to four times faster with high accuracy. The BurnBot RX2 model operates effectively in challenging conditions—including high humidity, light rain, and winds up to 20 mph—and can safely create blacklines near structures, power lines, and on uneven terrain. It requires fewer personnel, produces minimal smoke and embers, and logs GPS, weather, and performance data automatically for comprehensive digital burn reports. Operated remotely by trained personnel, typically former firefighters, BurnBot RX2 functions similarly to an ice resurfacer, laying pre-burned paths to define burn boundaries and regulating fire parameters via propane torches. Its design includes features like steel rollers to tamp embers and a light water spray to extinguish