Flame-Throwing Drones Incinerate Rubbish Caught In Powerlines

Flaming the good fire. Gif: SWNS via YouTube

Scientists keep giving robots all kinds of weapons, which sure seems shortsighted. Now, we have flame-throwing drones here to help us… for now, anyway.

In a new video I stumbled across while doom-scrolling this week, a drone fitted with a flame thrower has been called on to cut a huge piece of fabric loose from a powerline. The drone was spotted burning the trash away from the powerline, cleaning the debris in a controlled manner.

The drone in question is one of a fleet of armed aerial vehicles that are being deployed by an energy company in Xiangyang, China, reports Popular Mechanic. It’s a pretty important job as whenever loose debris gets wrapped around powerlines there’s a risk of something called a “flashover,” which is when the electricity can jump from the cables to the ground. This could be a seriously dangerous event if anyone is nearby or if dry plants are growing below.

Flamethrower drone clears power line 🔥 | LOVE THIS!

In order to reduce these risks, engineers often rush to try and clear any debris from the powerlines as soon as it appears. In China, this means turning to a massive eight-propeller drone that can shoot jets of fire. The fire burns away the debris without risking the integrity of the cables.

While this might sound like an even greater risk to the ground below, the fire is handled in a controlled manner, meaning any burning materials do reach the ground, workers are on hand to quickly extinguish the flames.

It’s a pretty good use of both drone tech and flame thrower technology, however it’s not the first time robots have been given this kind of weaponry. Earlier this year a robot dog was fitted with a flamethrower, which you could just go out and buy if you so desired here in the Land of the Free. Another robotic quadruped was also given a firearm, which its creators said would keep humans out of harms way on the battlefield.