As climate change wages on, and wildfires become a greater — and more deadly — threat, innovation is necessary to save lives and ecosystems.
A group of four students from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London were moved by that very threat. They created a device that functions seamlessly within forests to detect wildfires and rapidly alert communities and rescue crews.
It’s called Pyri — a name that stems from “pyriscience,” a natural phenomenon in which plants adapt to fire, releasing their seeds when exposed to high temperatures.
The device was intentionally modeled after serotinous pinecones, from trees in wildfire-prone areas known for this adaptation. Similar to how a tree might release its pinecones as a biological response to fire, Pyri works when it’s exposed to high temperatures.
The device — only a bit larger than the palm of one’s hand — is made of wax and charcoal. When a wildfire occurs, the heat melts Pyri’s wax shell and releases a saltwater, electrolyte-rich solution.
From there, the solution activates the internal electronics of the device, which sets off radio frequencies to nearby communities. A radio signal can be picked up by communication located tens of kilometers away.
Without needing expensive cameras, sensors, or satellites, Pyri uses minimal amounts of metal and prioritizes abundant and non-toxic materials. If the device is never activated, it can simply exist in the natural environment as a harmless and non-obtrusive object.
Pyri was created by Richard Alexandre, Richard ‘Blake’ Goodwyn, Karin Gunadi, and Tanghao Yu, all graduate students in Innovation Design Engineering at Royal College.
“We took inspiration from the natural world, trying to see how different species and plants are reacting to wildfire, and then we landed on the focus which is a pine cone that explodes trying to send out the seed when the fire approaches it,” Alexandre said in a video for the college.
“We realized that the wildfires, although they have a destructive power, they are also connected to natural processes in nature. So it's not just about mitigating the wildfire, but understanding how it's connected to a system that's relevant to nature, too.”
And these realizations have just won the research team the UK National James Dyson Award.
“We’re thrilled that Pyri has won the UK National James Dyson Award, allowing us to further progress our invention, with hopes to reduce the devastation that wildfires can cause globally,” Alexandre said in a statement.
His motivation to create this device is personal.
“As a Brazilian, I have a personal connection with the solution that we have created after seeing firsthand the devastation that wildfires caused in Pantanal,” he continued.
“As this devastation seems to continue around the world, we hope that with Pyri we can detect fires early enough to protect the earth from this kind of catastrophe in the future, bringing this solution to the communities that need it.”
The award will grant the Pyri team £5,000 to advance their work and develop a fully functioning prototype. This also puts the device in the running for a $37,000 grand prize in the international round of the competition, in which they will compete alongside 29 other country-level winners.
According to Interesting Engineering, the key materials of Pyri have been finalized, and this funding from Dyson will aid in the full development of the device. While each component of the design has been successfully tested individually, the researchers will now integrate them into a final design, followed by controlled testing for real-world applications.
Those materials are part of what made Pyri such a stand-out candidate for the Dyson awards. The design’s simplicity, low-cost, and zero maintenance make it a turn-key solution for so many large and remote areas that could be rocked by wildfires.
“These materials were chosen for their abundance, effectiveness, and non-toxicity to the environment compared to conventional materials like plastic and toxic metals like lithium and cobalt in batteries,” Alexandre told Dezeen.
“Unlike traditional methods, which rely heavily on sensors, cameras and satellites — often limited by coverage, accuracy and high costs – Pyri offers an effective, affordable solution suitable for extensive deployment, even in remote locations,” he added.
In a statement announcing the award, Dyson noted that in 2023, wildfires caused over 300 deaths and cost $50 billion globally. And with recent reports predicting that climate change will make wildfires more frequent and intense — even in the Arctic — innovations like these could be a matter of devastation or survival.
“Pyri… is a wonderful example of an innovative idea that solves an increasing global problem,” Rumyana Dancheva, a senior design engineer at Dyson and a judge for the awards said.
“The team has developed a compelling product with a fascinating take on functionality, technology, shape, and sustainability. Pyri has the potential to have a huge positive impact on both people and the environment through the early detection of wildfires.”
Header image courtesy of Dyson
