The new Birdhouse Alarm is a unique alarm system designed to detect early signs of forest fire in order to alert authorities before the fires become too difficult to manage and control.
As the name implies, the Birdhouse Alarm has the typical look of a birdhouse, which has all the familiar components that include a slanted roof, an entrance hole, a perch and a nesting cavity. Technologically speaking, however, the slanted roof is made up of a solar panel, while the nesting cavity houses a rechargeable battery, a smoke sensor and a 3G network connection facility. All of these features allow the birdhouse to send a geo-located signal to alert authorities of a detected forest fire.
"In northern Spain, most of the territory is forest. An area full of villages, vegetation and wildlife," says insurance company Generali on its official site. "Many fires happen each year. In 2015 almost 40 percent of the land was burned. The birdhouse uses a smoke detector to identify fires. When smoke is detected a geolocated message is sent through a 3G connection to the forest department. The fire station receives the message instantly and sends a team to extinguish the fire."
The Birdhouse Alarm by Generali is the world's first fire detection birdhouse and it's part of the company's program to protect the environment using sustainable and innovative means. Each birdhouse unit uses a 100 percent recycled wooden material, which is carefully designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, its Arduino solar panel has a 3G system that allows the birdhouse to send a geolocated signal.
Designed by Ogilvy & Mather, the prototype birdhouse units are currently in a development testing phase before they can be ready to roll out for global use.
"We are in a rural area, we have many customers in the area, from the village who have lived closely, very closely the fires," says Vicente Bui, an insurance agent at Generali.
With more measures being implemented for the sake of early detection of fires, the fire department will be able to get to the location on time and extinguish the fire. Generali said that the project is generally aimed at protecting people's homes as well as the planet, which is the biggest home of all.
