IIIT-Lucknow Modifies Technology To Create Affordable Drone With Desi Style

The Indian Institute of Information Technology-Lucknow (IIIT-L) has developed a 'desi drone' that is as efficient as existing models but five times cheaper. It was accomplished through an inventive modification of drone technology using a mobile phone.

A panel of experts at IIT-incubation Patna's centre approved the innovation and approved grants for further development of the indigenous drone.

Assistant Professor Vishal Krishna Singh and his two students conducted six months of research to develop the new drone.

Farmers and agricultural experts can use it to monitor crops and map agricultural terrain. Furthermore, officials can use it to assess drought and flood conditions. Individuals can use it for aerial photography as well.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) tasked the team with developing an affordable drone in 12 months at IIT Patna's incubation centre under its scheme NIDHI-PRAYAS.

The DST's National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) is an umbrella programme for promoting and accelerating young and aspiring innovators and startups.

"One of the most expensive components of a part is the camera," said lead innovator Vishal Krishna Singh, who also heads the wireless communications and analytics research lab at IIIT. As a result, rather than using a standard camera, we devised a method for the drone to take photographs using a mobile phone camera. This allowed us to reduce the price."

"The cost of a drone at present is around Rs 8,000, which can be brought down to Rs 3,000 in case of mass production. Drones with the same efficiency and quality currently cost more than Rs 40,000," he added.

"We have made a port on the drone's quadcopter where one can plug in his or her mobile phone," Singh explained further about the innovation. “While flying, the drone sensors use the camera on the phone to take photographs, which are then transmitted to the laptop via an Android application for aerial monitoring. We have also created an app for this purpose."

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