Odisha’s Startup Firm Soars High With India’s First 5G-enabled Drone, Skyhawk

Odisha’s Startup Firm Soars High With India’s First 5G-enabled Drone, Skyhawk

Odisha is one of those very few states in India which have undergone profound changes in the past decade. The state has radically transformed, expanded and witnessed enormous growth. The state is now marching ahead with renewed conviction towards a new and revamped Odisha, adopting new ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship. Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has time and again reiterated that Odisha is emerging as a technology resource hub of India and creating jobs for youths. Professional services are on an upward trend and executive spending power has drastically boosted the state’s economy. The state is now in the true sense a ‘Destination of the Future’ with a growing scale of investment, talent pool and ambition. Contributing to this talent pool and entrepreneurship with a vision for the growth and development of the country, a startup firm IG Drones has invented a drone named Skyhawk which is India’s first 5G-enabled drone and can be used for various purposes ranging from defence to medical. My City Links got into a freewheeling chat with one of its founders Bodhisattwa Sanghapriya to know more about this new invention. 

Inception
Back in 2016, two 18-year-old students, Bodhisattwa and Om Prakash, of the oldest engineering institute in Odisha, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, decided to do something different from their regular curriculum and thought to focus on an application-oriented approach instead. The institute was started in 1956 to produce engineers to help and maintain the longest earthen dam in the world, Hirakud, and launched the first student satellite, named VSSUT Satellite Launching Vehicle (VSLV) – India’s First Multipurpose Student Rocketry Mission – back in 2016. The students who started developing an indigenous-sounding rocket and a PicoSAT satellite to monitor the famed dam for damages are now big names in the emerging and advanced drone industry and have founded IG Drones, currently one of the leading enterprise drone platforms in India.

The project was undertaken by ISRO and was appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mann ki Baat.

The same team has now come up with a drone named Skyhawk that can be used in defence and medical applications, among other sectors. The drone is designed in such a way that it can carry a 10 kg payload and has an endurance capacity of about five hours. Since Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) are providing 5G services in the country, these drones can be easily controlled with much more precision and can be controlled from the convenience of the command centre directly, rather than being on the field.

“Besides, it is a VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing), so it can be operated from any terrain without requiring a conventional runway. With the addition of Artificial Intelligence and thermal imaging capabilities, drones are the most convenient means to be used in monitoring border intrusion and during regular patrolling by the defence forces,” shared Founder Bodhisattwa.

It is IP67-rated and can be controlled via a combination of NavIC + GPS navigational satellites that remain connected in the upper range of 50 to 60 in case failsafe activation occurs. “It has the ability to connect several satellites, and thus it will work with precision in medical service delivery and defence services. The drone, if operated at its peak speed, has the capacity to cover almost 100 km in 12-15 minutes. It can provide surveillance up to 100-200 km per day, so it can serve the defence sector well. By deploying about 20-30 drones, an area can be secured. The needs of the medical and defence sectors were kept in mind while designing Skyhawk. This Make-In-India initiative has a firm aim to take it to the world,” he added.

“In the absence of 5G services in the area where it is deployed, it will be downgraded to 3G or 4G, or latch onto satellites,” he reiterated.

Team
The startup firm IG Drones, which originated from the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) campus in Odisha’s Sambalpur, is led by founders Bodhisattwa Sanghapriya and Om Prakash, along with a world-class R&D team. They developed a 5G-enabled drone capable of vertical take-off and landing.

“IG Drones is India’s leading enterprise drone solutions provider for drone surveying, mapping, and inspection by various industry experts. They have gallantly collaborated with multiple state governments, along with 30 of the biggest PSUs and MNCs, and have successfully executed more than 250 projects. The company has its head office in Delhi and branch offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, and Bhubaneswar,” said Bodhisattwa.

IG Drones Centre of Excellence (CoE) aims to provide students with a clear vision and vast scope to learn, imagine, innovate, inspire, encourage, and imbue them with the desire to attempt new innovations. Established in partnership with the industry-academia, the centre enhances industrial awareness among students and faculties. The COE prepares and wants to continue to educate the Indian youth for the upcoming Industrial 4.0 Revolution with the goal of self-sufficiency while bringing about a revolutionary paradigm shift in making India the world’s next Drone Hub. IG Drones, under its mission to upskill 10 million youth with the latest drone technology, partnered with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in May 2022, sparking a new triumph in the drone ecosystem in India.

“We at IG Drones firmly believe in the power of D2D transformation, i.e., from dust and dirt to drones and dignity,” Bodhisattwa beamed with contentment.

Regarding the story behind the name ‘Skyhawk,’ the founder shed some light on it and shared, “The Creative & Branding Team of IG Drones had been working tirelessly for weeks to come up with the perfect name for their latest product – India’s first 5G enabled VTOL drone. They knew the name had to be catchy, memorable, and reflective of the drone’s cutting-edge technology and advanced features. After careful consideration and analysis, they agreed that “Skyhawk” was the most fitting name for the drone. It had a strong and powerful ring to it and perfectly captured the drone’s ability to soar through the sky with ease.”

Vision

With a vision to provide world-class drone-based analytics solutions to improve industry outcomes by leveraging Geospatial Techniques and Industry standard Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML), IG Drones is on the go and coming up with newer, better and more sustainable modes of inventions in the world of drones.

IG Drones is a leader in enterprise drone and data analytics and provides highly accurate and detailed GIS surveys, topographic surveys, drone inspections, drone mapping, powerline monitoring, smart city survey, road inspection and survey, mines survey, flood assessment, asset monitoring, solar thermal inspection, security and surveillance, crop health monitoring, volumetric measurement, drone 3D mapping and modelling, aerial photography, and videography. IG Drones is India’s leading enterprise drone solution provider for drone surveying, mapping, and inspection by industry experts. IG Drones has partnered with multiple state governments and 30 of the biggest PSUs and MNCs and has executed more than 250 projects with a head office in Delhi and branch offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, and Bhubaneswar. A vertically-integrated organisation with in-house R&D, Manufacturing, Software and training operations, IG Drones delivers world-class end-to-end solutions for an array of drone requirements in Powerline, Infrastructure, Renewables, Mining, Railway, River Mapping, Agriculture, Industrial, Forest Survey and other enterprise sectors.

“In India, drones are being used to serve various industries such as agriculture, mapping, surveillance, mining, defence, healthcare, powerline monitoring, delivering supplies, and many more. A drone can be used in various operations and industries across the spectrum are exploring its true potential in all fields,” shared the founder.

“IG Drones was selected by the Ministry of Civil Aviation as one of the 14 firms under the Union government’s Rs 120 crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for the manufacturing of drones and drone components. In a major development for the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY Scheme), IG Drones has provided drones to OUAT in order to ramp up the facility, providing a major boost to the agricultural sector in India, and the startup was initially backed by the Ministry of Agriculture. Startup Odisha has been a significant supporter since its inception, along with organisations like FICCI, ESCI, and others,” he added.

Future 

With a mission to make India the global drone hub, IG Drones is working endlessly to provide world-class drone technology solutions powered by analytics and state-of-the-art drones. IG Drones was bestowed the Best Drone Startup Organisation globally by Airwards in 2022, the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind dedicated to identifying, recognizing, and championing the breadth of positive drone use cases from around the world. It was also selected to be a part of the Revv Up Startup Acceleration Program by Telangana AI mission (T-AIM) and is among 62 AI startups selected for TAIM REVVUP 3rd Cohort, moving one step forward to make India a global drone hub.

Throwing light on the team’s recent meeting with the Prime Minister, Bodhisattwa said, “Recently, our team at IG Drones met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at DefExpo 2022, which was held in Gandhinagar. We launched India’s First Indigenously Developed Drone Simulator in his presence, marking a future progressive step towards Atma Nirbharta in the drone sector, which will bring self-reliance to the industry. He further stressed making the borders safer with the help of these advanced drone technologies, which will help with surveillance and monitoring purposes. We also briefed him about the mission of upskilling and reskilling 10 million youths, which will help us project India as a global drone hub.”

“The PM seemed quite inquisitive about how this innovation will help people in various sectors, from those who are engaged in borders to those who fill the agricultural silos. With a cheerful look, he appreciated the innovation. “Khub saras. Yuvani mate upyogi,” he said, which translates to “Very Good. It’s useful for youth.” Such innovation will, by and large, project India’s greater vision and dream of becoming a Global Drone Hub by 2030.”

IG Drones was also selected by the Ministry of Civil Aviation as one of the 14 firms under the Union government’s Rs 120 crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for manufacturing drones and drone components.

“We were awarded by Airwards, the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind dedicated to identifying, recognizing, and championing the breadth of positive drone use cases from around the world,” shared Bodhisattwa.

Odisha has come a long way and still has more room to grow. More startups and young creatives are emerging, which is boosting the state’s burgeoning ecosystem for business growth. Odisha is gaining national attention in the IT sector. Today, Odisha stands among the central states of India that are contributing to the economy through Information Technology.

“We have come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go. Making India the global drone hub is what we aim for,” he signed off.