Vishagan Aranganathan was on a Qatar Airways flight for a vacation to India when he noticed something unique.
He realized the plane was equipped with a camera on the outside, enabling passengers to look at real-time footage of the surroundings during takeoff and landing. He glanced at buildings, forests and large pieces of land.
Then, he realized if the cameras could provide such clear views during every flight, similar technology can be used to spot wildfires before they spread and cause destruction.
That vision prompted Aranganathan to combine artificial intelligence and wildfire detection. He spent months putting together a project that earned him recognition as Maryland鈥檚 merit winner for
The annual contest honors an overall winner, 10 finalists, four honorable mentions and state merit winners, according to a news release. The merit winners get a prize pack and recognition on the challenge’s website.
鈥淚’ve always been interested in AI because it’s essentially the future and the empowerment of the U.S.,鈥� Aranganathan told 海角精品黑料. 鈥淐ombining AI and wildfire detection felt like the perfect combination for solving these wildfires.鈥�
The idea, he said, uses AI and commercial planes to detect wildfires in the western part of the country. Big plots of land would be scanned for heat spots using infrared cameras.
The cameras would take ground images during each takeoff and landing. That step is deliberate, Aranganathan said, 鈥渁s aircrafts typically maintain an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet during these phases, enabling coverage of up to 40 square miles per flight.鈥�
Those pictures would then be sent to an AI-powered processing center and analyzed for indicators of early wildfire activity. If a potential fire is detected, the system would automatically tell emergency response teams to intervene.
鈥淭hese fires are not just burning trees,鈥� Aranganathan said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e burning homes, communities and hope.鈥�
The California wildfires earlier this year served as inspiration, Aranganathan said, and 鈥淚 wanted to find a real solution that could help communities in desperate need.鈥�
Aranganathan graduated from Kingsview Middle School in Germantown and is planning to attend Northwest High in the fall.
Virginia鈥檚 winner, Aneruddha Das, is from Loudoun County.
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