FIRST Lego League 2022 - Falcon Fire
OASD Students Gain Worldwide Recognition

Fire detection solution aims to revolutionize the safety of the cargo industry while saving lives

Baksteen Valken, the combined FIRST Lego League team from Carl Traeger, Perry Tipler, ALPs, and Oakwood schools, finished a successful season by bringing home second place out of 35,000 teams in worldwide competition last month in St. Louis. The team completed a U.S.  provisional patent application for their invention - Falcon Fire - a device that uses multiple sensors to detect fires in cargo plane containers, then relays the alert to an app on a pilot’s device. Falcon Fire can be used in other settings where container fires are an issue: trains, ships, trucks and warehouses, potentially revolutionizing the safety of the cargo industry while saving lives.

WATCH: 2022 FIRST Global Innovation Awards

LEARN MORE: 2022 FIRST Global Innovation Awards - Project Descriptions

2021-2022 Season awards included:

  • November 2021 - Champion’s Award and Robot High Score Award at the Lakeshore Regional Tournament
  • December 2021 - Champion’s Award at the Milwaukee Sectional Tournament
  • February 2022 - Finalist for the Champion’s Award and received the Innovative Solution Award - advancing to the Western Edge Invitational Tournament - at the Wisconsin State Championship
  • Selected as Wisconsin's nominee for the Global Innovation Award (GIA)
  • May 2022 - Winners of the Western Edge Invitational “Innovative Solution Award”
  • June 2022 - Finalist for the FIRST Global Innovation Award, winning second place out of 35,000 teams from around the world for their Invention, Falcon Fire

The Idea Behind Falcon Fire (patent applied for)

According to the FAA, a lithium-ion battery fire occurs on planes every 10 days, posing a danger to pilots and cargo. There are smoke detectors in a plane’s hold but not in the individual canisters. Pilots do not know there is a fire until it breaches the canister and the smoke wafts up to the detectors, however the smoke could be drafted away, allowing the fire to spread. Falcon Fire is device that uses heat, smoke, and infrared flame detectors to sense fires in cargo containers. Falcon Fire’s WiFi-mesh network relays data between devices in each cargo canister, displaying the information on an app on the pilot’s tablet, allowing them to monitor canisters individually and quicky identify fires.

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