The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute has developed an intelligent fire detection system capable of significantly reducing false alarms. (Image courtesy of ETRI)
DAEJEON, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) of South Korea announced on October 23 that it has developed an intelligent fire detection system capable of significantly reducing false alarms.
According to the National Fire Agency, a staggering 96.6% of fire alarm responses between 2021 and July 2022 were triggered by false alarms, out of 258,220 total deployments. These false alarms cost the nation an estimated 20 billion won annually in unnecessary emergency responses.
Conventional photoelectric fire detectors use infrared light sources and photodiodes to detect smoke particles. When smoke enters the detector, the photodiode captures scattered light from the particles, triggering an alarm if the readings exceed certain thresholds.
However, these systems frequently generate false alarms when they encounter everyday aerosol particles such as dust, moisture, cooking smoke, or cigarette smoke, which can scatter light in similar ways to actual fire smoke.
To address this problem, ETRI researchers developed a new sensor system that employs artificial intelligence to distinguish between smoke from actual fires and non-fire aerosol particles.
The team built a comprehensive database measuring how different particles scatter light at various wavelengths, enabling their AI system to accurately identify the source of detected particles.
“Each type of aerosol particle has its own unique light-scattering characteristics, allowing our system to differentiate between actual fire smoke and other airborne particles,” explained a researcher involved in the project.
The research team plans to implement their new sensor technology in air-sampling smoke detectors, which are commonly used in semiconductor clean rooms and computer server facilities for fire prevention.
“Most air-sampling smoke detectors currently in use are imported products,” said Lee Kang Bok, head of ETRI’s Defense and Safety Intelligence Research Laboratory.
“A domestically produced system would be highly competitive in the market, and once commercialized, this technology could significantly reduce unnecessary emergency responses, preserving valuable firefighting resources.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
