From the ashes and devastation of the LA fires early this year emerged a group of students who said: never again. Meet OMNI, a group of high school students building a wildfire prevention and medicine delivery drone to enhance safety.
“OMNI really started with all the fires earlier this year burning down LA county,” media manager and junior Saanvi Gangireddy said. “As residents in California, OMNI really was a way for people who had seen these fires personally affect us to work together to change how fires would affect other California communities in the future.”
The plan was to modify a preexisting drone to effectively use thermal imaging capabilities to find potential fires and defuse them or contact local authorities before they spread. Additionally, the drone would also have a small compartment to help deliver important medical supplies for those who needed it by connecting the drone’s GPS mapping technology onto an app that would help the drone navigate to where it needed to be.
Creating a plan and prototype for this type of drone took a long time and required the team to look into other successful drone prototypes from delivery companies and pre-existing fire-fighting drones for inspiration. Soon, the team was able to raise over $10,000 in funds and buy a DJI Mavic 3 as their building block to modify into a functioning prototype, according to drone pilot and sophomore Crean High student Christine Oh.
“A lot of our support came from not only friends and family but also from getting our message out there,” Gangireddy said. “I remember editing all the videos that we were going to post on Instagram and our website to help show people our goals.”
Their success in raising funds came from their willingness to continue reaching out door-to-door and on their Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @projectomnidrones.
“The prototype took some time because we were trying to make something that didn’t really exist at the time yet—especially not for everyday families,” OMNI lead and Fairmont Preparatory Academy sophomore Isaac Lee said. “At first, we received some doubt and pushback on whether our idea could actually work, but after we got some donations, we were actually able to get the ball rolling.”
Despite the struggle, the progress that the team is making has encouraged them to be optimistic about their future success and what they can offer to their community.
“It feels like a way to give back to the community that has given and supported us so much,” Oh said. “It feels great to give people some hope that they don’t have to lose everything every six months because of a fire or another natural disaster.”
