Library
Everything behind eCopter in one place. Confidential: please do not forward.
Films
- The eCopter systemSearch and rescue, wildfire and CCR, 5 min
- The wildfire missionWildfire, 3½ min, cut from the system film
- Four drones, one missionSearch and rescue, 2 min
- Welcome to eCopterBaudouin d'Aumeries, 1 min
Presentations
- Wildfire17 slides
- CCR, the decision layer12 slides
- Search & Rescue15 slides
Simulators
- Wildfire simulatorFly a drop on real lidar terrain
- Search & Rescue simulatorRun a search on real lidar terrain
White papers
Technical briefs from Helen-B Advanced Engineering and SilverCraft, November 2026. Each opens as a PDF in a new tab.
Architecture
One eye, one brain, many hands
Surveyor + CCR + assistants, coordination architecture
Why a high observer, a reviewable decision layer and a small team of capable aircraft beats both a single big aircraft and a flat swarm. The surveyor sees and relays, the CCR core decides under the Commander's authority, the assistant drones or helicopters act. Traces the design to the air-attack doctrine U.S. wildland aviation already flies, and reviews the evidence through November 2026.
From sensor to decision
Observation data processing and the CCR dual-AI command loop
How thermal, visible, LiDAR, GNSS and weather streams from the surveyor become one time-stamped fire state model; how the two CCR planners each propose a global plan and then tactical options; how the referee resolves their disagreement so the Commander sees both options and why one won. Includes a worked example on a two-front brush fire.
Data, links and positioning
What goes where
Telemetry routing, MQTT topics, multi-channel video
The complete data plan of an incident: every message, who publishes and subscribes, and which of three radio links carries it, from the first sector handed to the surveyor to the drop card. Covers the vital and mechanical telemetry that lets CCR recall a drone at bingo fuel, and the video design that sends every camera both to the Commander and to the analytics.
Everything that moves, on the map
APRS-style GPS beacons, surveyor relay, MQTT
A position network of our own small GPS beacons on every aircraft, crew, vehicle, helispot and dip tank, relayed over terrain by the surveyor and published to MQTT for CCR and every map. Explains why real amateur-radio APRS cannot be used commercially in the U.S., which band and protocol to use instead, and how to build version one from LoRa hardware already on hand.
Centimetre guidance
IR acquisition, laser designation, dip site, radar altimeter
Turning a thermal pixel into a GPS point on the 3D map is good to 1–3 m, which is enough to plan but not to hit a 2 m spot beside a crew or put a bucket into a 6 m pool. This brief adds the terminal tier: laser designation from the air or from a firefighter on the line, markers at the dip pool and refuelling pad, and a radar altimeter for hover height. Component list and a demonstration-scale build included.
Platforms and market
LiDAR & drones
Capabilities, sensors, costs and limits
What airborne laser scanning brings to wildfire and SAR: seeing the ground through canopy, working at night and over featureless terrain, and resolving power lines and other thin obstacles that matter most for low-level helicopter work. Reviews current drone payloads, their costs and where they fall short. Market figures as of November 2026.
Helicopter autonomy
State of the art, providers, costs
A survey of optionally piloted and fully autonomous helicopter programmes relevant to a civilian wildfire and SAR fleet: the four levels of “autonomy”, the shared technology stack, the programmes that have flown, civilian providers and their prices, the certification picture, and what it implies for a Bell 205 / UH-1H fleet. Market facts as of November 2026.