Innovative early fire detection from the funicular railway to the forest

The Black Forest is an international tourist magnet - many people visit the region's popular destinations throughout the year. Bad Wildbad is no exception. The idyllic town is nestled in the densely wooded northern Black Forest. In addition to the magnificent spa architecture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, visitors from all over the world come to enjoy the legendary Black Forest air on Bad Wildbad's Sommerberg in the midst of magnificent nature. Not just for hiking, as the Sommerberg activities include a treetop trail with a viewing tower, an adventure forest and the Wildline – a spectacular suspension bridge, for example. “The view from up there is wonderful,” says Benedikt Behl, who not only knows his way around Bad Wildbad, but has also visited the Sommerberg several times. As Sales Manager at Bosch Energy and Building Solutions, he is the first port of call for customers in this region and is proud of the safety and security solutions that have been installed in Bad Wildbad so that tourist attractions, the forest and, above all, the Sommerberg funicular railway are better protected against fires.

For more than 100 years, the highest funicular railway in Baden-Württemberg has connected the center of Bad Wildbad with the Sommerberg. It covers a height difference of 300 meters and a length of 740 meters on gradients of up to 29 percent. The carriages transport many tourists every half hour and also provide public transportation between the city center and the residential and working area of the Sommerberg. Since its first run in 1908, the train has been continuously modernized and was recently equipped with the intelligent video-based early fire detection system AVIOTEC from Bosch. The solution, installed along the tracks and in the machine room at the mountain station, detects smoldering fires and small fires at the source within seconds.

"The railway runs close to the city forest. While the upper section of the line runs through woodland, the lower section is close to hotels, guesthouses and private homes," explains Benedikt Behl. “The train has no driver on board who can react to a fire on the track or similar incidents. If our system detects smoke, an alarm is immediately sent to the person on duty at the mountain station, who can then respond right away. For example, by stopping the carriage to prevent it from driving into the fire without braking,” continues Benedikt Behl. “AVIOTEC cameras have built-in intelligent algorithms that analyse the recorded images. They have been trained to detect smoke and fire at an early stage. Thanks to the infrared lighting in the cameras, this even works in the dark”.

The technical control center, from which the Sommerberg funicular railway is controlled, is located at the mountain station. This is where Technical Operations Manager Rafael Lopez starts and controls the entire operation: “I’m a firefighter myself, so I was immediately convinced by the concept”. In the machine room, which is also located in the mountain station, a camera continuously monitors the electric motor that drives the carriages using an 800-meter-long traction cable. „While a conventional fire detector only reacts when smoke has risen to it, the AVIOTEC solution can even detect an incipient fire, caused by a spark for example.“, continues Benedikt Behl. Rafael Lopez believes that the drive unit is now much better protected: “The system we have now is very technologically advanced and plays an important role in protecting our guests and preserving the railway itself. What’s more, this solution also increases safety in the immediate surroundings along the tracks.”

Following the successful collaboration on the funicular railway, the city, fire department, forestry department and the operators of the suspension bridge decided to also protect parts of the surrounding forest from the dangers of fire by deploying an innovative technology solution from Bosch. Benedikt Behl brought his colleagues Heiko Schwichtenberg, Christoph Vieregge and Frank Richter on board for this. The Wildfire Detection team has developed an innovative total solution for the early detection of vegetation fires. "To prevent an initial undetected smoldering fire from developing into a large-scale fire, the combination of early warning and precise information is crucial. And that's exactly what we can offer," says Christoph Vieregge. Together with his colleagues, the expert for fire alarm systems has been working intensively on this topic. Every year, for example, forest fires endanger people and damage the habitats of many animal and plant species.“ Here in Bad Wildbad, the forest is also a tourist attraction and many jobs depend on it,” says Benedikt Behl. “Those involved know all too well what damage an undetected fire could cause and that the risk is always there.”

Around 500,000 guests visit the Sommerberg each year. "Unfortunately, they are not always aware of the acute danger of forest fires, and smoldering cigarettes are often thrown away. And you can't always rely on visitors to be careful at the numerous barbecue sites," explains Andreas Wacker, head of the Forest Department on the Sommerberg. He is therefore pleased that Bad Wildbad has opted for the innovative forest fire detection system. An important part of the solution from Bosch Energy and Building Solutions is a network of inconspicuous sensors that are used as intelligent sniffer devices in the forest. They detect gases that are released at an early stage during a vegetation fire and also record other important information such as temperature, humidity and air pressure. The sensors are maintenance-free for 10 to 15 years. They are also self-powered with an integrated solar panel.

The fire protection experts at Bosch have designed the sensor network in such a way that critical points are specifically protected. Bad Wildbad forestry staff installed around 30 gas sensors in the forest at the visitor hotspots on the Sommerberg. If a sensor sounds an alarm, the Bosch cloud-based BOS portal provides all the important information that the control center dispatcher needs to safely guide the emergency services to the scene of the incident in accordance with the rules of the authorities and organizations for security tasks. "We have integrated an alert server into this portal. This means that those affected immediately receive a push message on their smartphone with the most important data," says Christoph Vieregge. “It may not be possible to prevent forest fires. But we can shorten the detection time and thus raise the alarm more quickly. This is extremely valuable, because if there is a fire up there, every minute counts,” explains Andreas Wacker, Forestry Division Manager in Bad Wildbad. Relevant information can be viewed on the portal itself, such as details on temperature, humidity and air pressure. Weather data, including wind direction and speed, also provides information about the situation on the ground. Information that is not only relevant to firefighting. "The temperature and humidity data also help us with forest management. We used to have to collect it ourselves, but now we get it automatically. In the long term, this will give us a picture of the climate changes in our forest area," adds Andreas Wacker.

"With the Wildfire Detection Service, we have an innovative and cost-effective solution to protect remote locations or large areas such as national forests," concludes Benedikt Behl. This applies to alpine huts as well as outdoor photovoltaic systems or wind turbines, but also to large forest areas. "In addition to this service, we also offer a drone service that supports the emergency services with quickly available aerial images to verify the fire risk. The reconnaissance flights are a fraction of the cost of a helicopter mission". The eVTOL drones are flown by Bosch pilots using BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) technology. Thanks to a speed of up to 150 km/h, one or more drones can be on site in a very short time and support the emergency services with a live video stream, which is also transmitted via the BOS portal to end devices such as smartphones of those involved. "Our drone service can help not only with fires, but also with natural disasters, accidents, searching for missing persons or ensuring a safe power supply, providing important information about the situation and saving valuable time."