Arcimoto, Inc., makers of rightsized, outrageously fun, ultra-efficient electric vehicles for moving people and stuff, today announced that it has joined SoCal Tech Bridge’s Project Vesta, an innovative public-private partnership designed to mitigate wildfires using a combination of next-generation technologies, powered by AI, 5G, and ultra-efficient vehicles.
In collaboration with TESIAC, a Managed Services Platform that delivers Infrastructure-as-a-Service to public and private entities, and a member of the Project Vesta leadership team, Arcimoto will participate in the first Project Vesta live experiment from February 14 to 18 at Camp Roberts in San Miguel, CA. The Vesta Team will be testing an unmanned fire mitigation prototype that combines state-of-the-art technology to identify risk, reduce response time, and support wildfire mitigation efforts. The Joint Interagency Field Experimentation will take place on Camp Roberts in a primarily grassland environment.
“Fires start small, so the faster we can identify and locate a growing wildfire and deploy the appropriate tools, the more we can mitigate this growing problem, saving billions of dollars in damages to our forests and communities, while making the emergency safer for the boots on the ground,” said Jesse Fittipaldi, Arcimoto Chief Strategy Officer. “The idea is elegant and simple, bringing together some of our most exciting technologies: use AI to scan the skies for smoke trails, dispatch fire-fighting drones and ultra-efficient vehicles using 5G connectivity to quickly arrive on the scene, buying valuable time for firefighters to arrive before a small fire has a chance to grow into a wildfire.”
The Project Vesta team is passionate about developing and sharing better, quicker, and safer means to deal with wildfires. The program goals are rapid fire identification, mapping, and timely containment agents on target, coupled with persistent fire surveillance, analytics capabilities, and convenient interoperability.
“Wildfires are a wicked problem continually growing in severity and scope, and this prototype has the potential to identify fire risk, reduce response time, and decrease direct firefighter engagement,” said Captain Ben Cohen, USMC. “Humans are still deeply engaged in the process, but at a safer distance. We are excited to be a part of such meaningful work.”