Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) have developed a low-cost, autonomous, unmanned aerial drone that can be used for para-dropping food and supplies during natural disasters and military operations. With an ability to undertake long flights and drop emergency supplies accurately using parachutes, the indigenous drone named ‘BHIM’ has advanced features such as aerial surveillance also.
Precision device
“Most of the drones that are commercially available in the market are remote controlled whereas this drone can function autonomously because of the complex intelligence embedded in it. The device also comes with a lot of precision, which can be used by security agencies in times of natural disaster and emergencies,” Professor Sudip Misra, associated with Smart Wireless Applications & Networking (SWAN) lab of IIT- KGP, told The Hindu .
Prof Misra explained that the device is powered by a “complex combination of hardware and algorithms for drone stabilisation against external environmental effects, object identification using deep learning and multi-radio communication between it and multiple ground-based observation stations”.
Two years of research
The drones which are widely available in the market are mostly imported, particularly from USA and China, whereas this device has been fully developed by IIT- KGP researchers after nearly two years of research.
“Since it is completely indigenous technology, the cost is going to be less. This device also comes up with a lot of additional features like high payload carrying capacity, adaptability in difficult environmental conditions and has the ability to identity and track objects,” Anandarup Mukherjee, a research scholar associated the project, said.
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