IIIT-L faculty & students develop ‘desi’ agri drone using android tech

Lucknow: An innovative tweak in drone technology using a mobile phone by a teacher and students of the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Lucknow (IIIT-L) helped them build a ‘desi drone’ which is equally efficient, but five times cheaper than the ones available in the market. A panel of experts at the incubation centre of IIT Patna has approved the innovation and released grants for further development of the indigenous drone.Soon, the IIIT-L team will patent this innovation.
After hard work and research for around six months, assistant professor Vishal Krishna Singh and his two students developed the drone which can be used by farmers and agriculture experts for monitoring their crops and agricultural terrain mapping. Besides, officials can use it to assess drought and flood situations. Even individuals can utilise for aerial photography.
The team was given the responsibility to develop in 12 months an economical drone by the department of science and technology (DST) under its scheme NIDHI-PRAYAS at the incubation centre of IIT Patna.
National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) is an umbrella programme conceived and developed by the DST for Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring innovators & Startups (PRAYAS).