A team of scientists from the IIIT Hyderabad developed a working prototype of innovative Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
Gouri J S
credits: Wikipedia
A team of scientists from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) has developed a working prototype of innovative Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The flexible drone which is named as 'Elasticopter' has adjustable arms that helps it to pick packets of different sizes and shapes. The UAV is believed to be a massive breakthrough in the field of drone technology. The drone vehicle has been developed by 24 year old Suraj Bonagiri from the Robotics Research Centre (RRC), IIIT Hyderabad.
The existing drones design only concentrates on the weight to be lifted ignoring their sizes, which is also an important factor. This limitation led to the latest innovation.
According to Suraj, since drones are typically designed to carry specific payloads, forcibly filling and lifting inappropriate payloads will lead to instability, loss of efficiency and even compromise on safety. Whereas, the newly designed UAV has been provided with four propellors and a flexible chassis which expands and collapses so as to grip and match with the packet sizes and shapes. The UAV is also expected not to experience any mid air turbulence during the flight.
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The innovation is path breaking and the quadcopter is a vehicle people had been thinking about for long- said Prof. Prakash Yalla, Technology Transfer Officer (TTO) and head of Product Labs. He also explained the uniqueness of the UAV design that makes it path breaking. The vehicle is currently undergoing the process of patency.
Suraj approached Project labs with his idea where he enrolled for the Technology Product Entrepreneurship (TPE) course. He extensively influenced the Maker's Labs and is now pre-incubated at Product Labs. He won a productization grant of Rs.8 Lakhs for his initial prototype and is currently working on the second prototype using high quality materials. The commercial model is expected to be released by the end of the year.
I'd like to think of it as a multi-purpose drone. From a large agricultural spray tank for aerial spraying of fertilizers and pesticides to a megaphone for disseminating public information about the Covid-19 vaccination programme or a lockdown situation, the sky is the limit in its application- Suraj