Meet Sanat Pandit, sixth-grader whose $300 drone put out 18 of 20 fires
A sixth-grader from Ann Arbor, Michigan, has developed a low-cost firefighting drone designed to help tackle one of the most dangerous challenges faced by firefighters: reaching and suppressing fires without putting people directly in harm’s way. Sanat Pandit, a student at Greenhills School, built a $300 unmanned aerial vehicle that uses thermal imaging, sonar and path-planning technology to…
Sanat Pandit, a sixth-grader from Ann Arbor, Michigan, has created a low-cost drone designed to aid firefighters in putting out fires safely and efficiently. This innovative drone, named Project Soteria, uses thermal imaging, sonar, and path-planning algorithms to locate hot spots and deliver water to extinguish them. During testing, the $300 drone successfully put out 18 of 20 outdoor fires and 16 of 20 indoor fires, as reported by Society for Science.
Pandit's project earned him a spot as one of 30 finalists in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, a prestigious national STEM competition for students in grades six through eight. His interest in developing the firefighting drone stemmed from personal experience, as his aunt and cousins lost their home to a wildfire and the 2025 Los Angeles fires further highlighted the challenges faced by firefighters.
By building an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of identifying intense heat and delivering water to affected areas, Pandit has created a more accessible and affordable solution to wildfire response, ultimately aiming to become an aeronautical engineer.
Written by urgent.news from Times of India's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
