The sky over Rajpath lit up in a kaleidoscope of colors on Saturday, as 1,000 drones created a 3D image of Bapu with his walking stick, tricolor flag and a map of India. The brains behind the event are two IIT-Delhi alumni and their professors, who spent six months designing and building the drones and preparing different animations to recreate in the sky.

Tanmay Bunkar and Anuj Kumar Barnwal, physics graduates from IIT Delhi, co-founded their startup Botlab Dynamics with Dr Sarita Ahlawat in 2016. Their goal is to replace large, expensive drones with simpler, cheaper drones that can perform the same tasks and carry the same payloads by forming a network or collaborative aviation system. Over time, they received grants from IIT-Delhi’s Department of Science and Technology and the I-Hub Robotics Foundation (IHFC).

On Saturday, Rajpath’s sky was their canvas, drones and their brushes, with different patterns to mark the 75th anniversary of independence. These include a giant 3D globe, a rising tricolor, a map of India, and an Ashok chakra in the center. It was an elaborate process that took months to conceive and design.

“We came up with a concept where we would show six or seven patterns. Then it had to be turned into an animation on the computer. It was a very time-consuming exercise, each animation could take up to two weeks. Then We run this animation through a simulation to make sure the drones don’t collide with each other, taking into account factors like air speed. After this, we input the program into each drone, then bring them to the ground and do a test flight,” explains Dr. Say. Ahawat.

Last July, the Defense Department told Botlab Dynamics that they would be taking part in Republic Day celebrations and that they had to target 1,000 drones. Before that, Tanmay and his colleagues had never handled more than 80 drones at the same time.

“The reliability of these drones is key to making sure the show runs smoothly. We have 1,000 drones to complete a show, but we don’t have 1,000 people to maintain each drone, do pre-flight inspections, etc. That is This is a luxury that we don’t have. So we decided to build the drone ourselves so that we can understand the causes of different errors and malfunctions,” said Tanmay Bunkar.

Soon, they started ordering parts and assembling the hardware. But at this time, the global supply chain is snapped up, and the shortage of different components such as semiconductor chips starts to impact different industries. This forced the team to look for alternatives at home. That’s when they found a guy in Manesar who made motherboards for phones and asked him to make printed circuit boards.

Tanmay said the drone’s casing was made by Seelampur, a manufacturer of fruit baskets and broom handles.

Complete News Source : The Hindu