(This article is originally posted by the India Today)
IIT Roorkee has inaugurated a state-of-art Centre for Drone Research on the campus. The initiative has secured a seed funding of INR 100.38 lakhs from alumni of the 1994 batch on the occasion of their Silver Jubilee Reunion.
This centre is envisaged to evolve as a unique facility at the national level wherein state-of-the-art and frontier research would be conducted on several aspects of drone technology, including drone development, drone applications and anti-drone technology.
Drone sector on the rise
On the occasion, Dr. VK Saraswat, the Chief Guest and Member, NITI Aayog, said “I would like to congratulate IIT Roorkee for this initiative. The drone segment has witnessed a surge in demand by leaps and bounds and is currently being harnessed by 50-60 academic institutions for developing a variety of applications.”
“The growth of this segment aligns to the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat,” he added.
He also stressed upon the significance of indigenization in the design process of drones and the need for prudent business models to make it commercially viable.
Rs 1 crore donation for drone research
In his video address, Dr RK Tyagi, IIT Roorkee’s Distinguished alumnus and former Chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. said: “I congratulate and appreciate batch 1994 for contributing Rs 1 crore for campus of drone research. We are indeed very grateful.”
“They have conveyed their gratitude to the alma mater like the way we convey our gratitude to our parents. It will give inspiration to other batches who are thinking of initiating similar contributions,” he said.
“The starting of drone research is very timely. The year 2020 has been very disruptive and the drone technology in the last year has impacted every area of activity like transport, medical, pipeline, agriculture and defence,” he added.
“In fact, next to internet and GPS, the drone and anti-drone technology is making a transformative effect and impact on mankind. India will become a drone hub by 2030 and drones and anti-drones will define the core combat capabilities of tomorrow,” he said.
Drone market opportunities
BVR Mohan Reddy, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Roorkee, said: “The drone market is pegged at 128 billion and has around 38 different areas of application. Hence there is a huge opportunity in this segment, especially in the healthcare and social impact domains.”
He also emphasised the need to promote entrepreneurship and incubation of ground-breaking ideas in the drone segment.
Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, said: “The idea of the drone research centre took shape in 2019 on the initiative of the 1994 batch alumni. We intend to scale up the initiative and tap more avenues to foster cutting-edge research and innovation in this direction.”
“We also propose a Coordination Committee comprising of a few alumni of the 1994 batch and the IIT Roorkee management to meet annually and work with a shared vision in this segment,” he added.
The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Prof. Manoranjan Parida, Deputy Director, IIT Roorkee.
Surge in drone usage
Drones are extensively used by the military in today’s world. Goldman had estimated global military expenditure of approximately $70 billion on drones by 2020.
They play an important role in the resolution of the conflicts and also quite helpful in the replacement of the human pilot to carry out time-sensitive missions and execution of high-profile projects.
Drones can be used significantly in rural areas to improve the life of the people living there, especially when it concerns their needs to access healthcare.
These communities require more fast and vibrant transport system to handle the health problems by transporting vaccines, medicines, blood packs from hospitals to health post locations.
Some of their other applications include videography of an accident site to preserve the clues which include photography, video clips taken during accident/disasters, to monitor the search, rescue and relief operations.
One such example is the usage of thermal sensors, the progress of major projects such as a construction site, monitoring of animal populations to ensure wildlife protection, condition of tracks during breaches, floods and landslides, crowd management during major fairs and melas, mapping of various railway stations and yards performed for project planning purpose and much more.
