Students, faculty members and the general public who had assembled at the sports complex in Anna University were fascinated by the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that took to the skies as a part of a UAV air show.
The air show was organised to mark the end of the three-day Aero Design Challenge, which saw students from nearly 93 colleges across the country conceive, design and develop a prototype of a fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
Even as two helicopter UAVs were flown, the audience cheered loudly as a rotary UAV, fixed wing UAV and Ornicopter — a UAV with wings that flap like a bird — were also flown during the air show.
K. Senthil Kumar, Director of the Centre for Aerospace Research (CASR), MIT Campus, Anna University, who introduced the UAVs, also spoke about ‘Daksha,’ a UAV conceived to help with aerial mapping.
Distributing the prizes, Higher Education Minister K.P. Anbazhagan said UAVs had been extremely resourceful for both civilian as well as security purposes.
As many as 63 regular UAVs and 27 micro UAVs were showcased. The students were put through four technical workshops to help conceive the UAV and over the last three days, said S. Thamarai Selvi, Director of the CTDT, Anna University.
