Drones – the unmanned arial vehicles is setting a benchmark all over the world. No wonder that world has seen many technological advancements, but drones are one of the most ‘talked about’ innovative solution provided by many talented companies. One such innovative company is Drona Aviation. The idea of this company was born out of two exceptionally talented minds who are IIT alumni.
Dinesh and Prassana started this drone-tech company with a vision to provide knowledge about this specific industry. They both empower grassroot level innovation. The company has two Nano-drones, which are creating a mark for its easy and affordable handlings.
The Beginning of Drona Aviation
Mr. Dinesh was studying in the IIT Bombay. He knew Prassana who was doing PhD in Aeromodelling department. They started the Drona Aviation in 2014, earlier they were doing many things related to drones. They tried hands on cinematography in the Kumbh mela, also tried doing few fire department applications, but it did not do well. There were many issues and being a start-up, first challenge was restrictions on the drone that government implied. They did not want to waste their time as it costs huge sum of capital to implement the processes involved. So, they shifted their focus and continued to work on drone related technology and hardware.
When Dinesh and Prassana were in college, they used to teach the juniors about aeromodelling and were extremely keen about it. Therefore, they decided on launching a drone workshop as their start-up needed revenue to reach the skyrocketing heights. Usually, when people use drones for workshops, they are very costly. It ranges from15-20k approximately. They wanted to find a solution to this problem.
While this hustle of endeavouring a workshop, Prasanna and Dinesh brainstormed and came up with the idea of Nano-Drone. The team’s idea was this initiative will cause less restrictions and everyone will be able to fly the drone and will be more affordable to people. The idea was to give drone to each individual participating in the workshop.
In 2015, the team came up with the drone Pluto, which is a DIY Nano-drone and is programable. Whenever the team at Drona used to work on some application, the main issue was the end goal. They just invested to make the drone fly; the end goal of the proper application building was lost.
The vision was to build a platform where their juniors were allowed to do the assessment, projects, and whatever suits them to learn. That is why the Pluto drone platform came up. The drone contains the hardware, the software, the programming modules, the cygnus, Pluto cygnus ID, and block desk programming (Pluto block), and the learning. Drona Aviation wants to build a drone platform, which is good for learning drone technology.
Airborne Services
The company has a customizable drone platform where learner can come and get drone education. Drona makes the revenue with the hardware. It has two products Pluto 1.2 and Pluto X. Pluto 1.2 is the Nano programmable drone, available for most of the schools in India.
Pluto X is a product where, the team can add hardware. The addition of sensors is possible. The team already has two-three accessories in the market. The team will be working with colleges and hire interns so that it comes with new and fresh ideas.
If a person wants a customized model, then the Drona Aviation does not charge for it, it only charges for the drone. The team does not charge anything related to specifications and customizations. If the drone is ready to fly nobody needs to programme it but if an individual wants to have their specifications to it, they are free to do so.
Programming is not required as such when it comes to personal use but for commercial use the programming is a must. Schools can easily do it because it is a DIY drone. They just need to assemble it and the drone is ready to go. The company provides with a project book, which helps teachers to teach about the programmes used in the drone specifically. The features of the drone are also taught to the students. By this the students can also come up with new programmes.
There was a student in the workshop held by the Drona Aviation in 2018, he added the heating sensor in the drone, which helps detect the heat. If there is fire in some area because of emission because of methane and the fire department is unable to detect it then this drone will be helpful in detecting emission of methane.
Raising to be the Best
Initially, to make it tad bit affordable, the team did not want to give the drone the remote control it wanted a smart remote control using smartphones. It gives you the app, it also gives the diagnosis of the drone. If there is any issue the user can diagnose it. The main problem was the availability of material.
There are many components and technological advancements in a particular drone, which was not an easy task. At the beginning there was no one who was able to provide the company with good quality batteries. The drone battery is way different than others and the technical specifications make it harder to procure those batteries.
It took time to find the good manufacturer for the battery. Eventually, the team got a manufacturer from China but importing it was another task for them. There were many certifications that needed to be done and the company finally did it in 2019, which made the importing procedure easy.
The main thing of the drone is the flight controller. The team designed and built its own flight controller. It is safe, and the team constantly keeps upgrading the system. There was no sensor, which could tell the flying height of the drone, the team added some barometer to the flight controller, battery, and eventually found good motors.
Initially when the team was giving drones to the workshop participants, the motors were having some trouble and the wires used to come out. After this problem the company has to give orders to the manufacturer with specifications.
The major revenue of the company comes from schools and colleges. It is available for all. It is also available for commercial and for private use as well. It is used for KPI labs in schools and colleges to set up robotics class.
Inspiring Guru
Dinesh is from Jaipur and his schooling was done from there. After his 12th grade he dropped out to be an IITian and started preparing for JEE. In 2010 he got into IIT Bombay in the aerospace department. In the first year of his graduation, he was not aware of drones. In the first year his seniors introduced him about the aerospace technicalities and different systems. Later, he was intrigued by all these systems and continued to work on it. He participated in several competition all over India. In the last year of his graduation Prassana introduced him to drones. He has an interest in drones from the first year. From there they started planning of doing something in the field of drones specially. Prassana is very good and intelligent in technology and innovation, so he heads the technology part. Dinesh handles most of the operational part, products, and some part of the marketing.
Current Insights
When Drona Aviation started its journey there were very less companies related to drone technology. Currently there are more than 50 or 60 companies in this industry. Drones are being used in agriculture industry, medical industry, food industry, and various industries. Drones are also used in deliveries.
The Future of Drones
One day drone technology will be used for many applications, as the internet is evolving is an essential part of every individual. Drones will work with different applications who heavily utilize internet as a source of income. Many companies are also working on flying cars. According to Dinesh agricultural industry will majorly use drones in the coming time. Not just metro cities but small cities and towns will also utilize drones as per their needs.
The main part that the company focuses on is growing throughout. Everyone in this specific industry is doing great work and the company stands out because it is generating knowledge about the drone industry. The company will also come up with new applications. The drone industry is getting easier. The government is also helping with the innovative solutions.
“This platform is for educating about drones and learn about it. After this process thinking is what is important and executing the idea that you have for your project”
