27 teams flaunt their UAVs at Drone Olympics

BENGALURU: From aerial surveillance to dropping food packets from the sky and group drones flying in different formations, several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), soaring high at Jakkur airfield, caught the attention of drone enthusiasts.
On Monday, 27 teams participated in the preliminary rounds of the Drone Olympics as part of the 12th edition of Aero India, which will begin on Wednesday. Of these, nine will be selected for the finals that’ll be held during the aero show at Yelahanka Air Force Station on February 21.

This is the first time that a Drone Olympics is being held at Aero India. With this, the ministry of defence (MoD) aims to encourage UAV manufactures in India and also make use of the technology for defence purposes. Globally, UAVs are being deployed for defence purposes, including battlefield surveillance, aerial and terrain mapping.

Organisers said 121 teams registered for the event, of which 57 were shortlisted under various categories based on surveillance capability, supply drop challenge to assess weight-dropping skills and formation-flying challenge to demonstrate different shapes with groups of drones. The winners will take home a cash prize of Rs 38 lakh.

Among the teams that caught people’s attention was the hybrid drone made by Team Daksha at Madras Institute of Technology (Anna University). Kalaiselvan M, a research associate of Anna University said Daksha’s DH-VTHT (drone model) offers an innovative and logistically simple solution to the problem of vertical take off and landing. “There is no runway required,” he added.

“It’s a good platform to showcase our skills. We are also learning a lot of new things from others,” said Dipranjan Gupta, a second year BTech student at Chennai-based Vel Tech educational institute.

Sahil Bhushan, founder of The Pacer’s Corp, a private firm which manufactures fixed wing and multi-rotor drones, said these drones can be used for surveillance, especially at the borders and high-altitude areas. “We are now working with the MoD to come up with customised drones catering to the needs of army. We are also incorporating artificial intelligence for surveillance purpose.” Kishore Jonnalagadda of Bengaluru-based Drone Aerospace Systems said their focus is on using drones for surveillance and supply drop.

Training at Jakkur aerodrome soon

The Government Flying Training School (GFTS) in Jakkur will soon commence drone training. Raejus Job, a designated master trainer at GFTS, said they have been recently recognised by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct training on UAVs. “There is a need for professionally certified drone pilots due to the increasing demand for commercial and defence-related UAVs,” he said.