Pathanamthitta: Floods and other natural disasters are no longer a rare occurrence in Kerala and elsewhere. Three engineers from the state have developed a drone that could be used to deliver food and water to those stranded during floods.
The Kerala Police had presented it at the Police Technology Exhibition held at Kevadia in Gujarat a few days ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the pavilion too as he participated in the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel there.
The 10-kg drone can be controlled in a span of 15-km radius. With it jackets could be delivered to those marooned in the waters. Crucially, it has been fitted with a camera and can provide light at night.
The trio behind the flood-relief drone are Ani Sam Varghese of Konni in Pathanamthitta, Nibin Peter of Prakkanam in Pathanamthitta and Jojy John Varghese of Anchal in Kollam.
Ani is an Electronics and Communications engineer, Nibin, a Mechanical Engineer and John a Computer Engineer.
The trio envisioned to do something innovative while they were students at the Mar Baselios College of Engineering And Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. They were initially working on a camera drone to control crowds. However, the massive floods of 2018 made the trio to think differently. And they decided to deviate from the initial project and create a drone that would come in handy during floods.
They formed a company in October 2018 and developed the multipurpose drone, which was presented during an exhibition held in Kochi in August. The Kerala Police took over the project as it realised the drone is quite handy.
'We are trying to improve on the gadget by including better communication means," Ani said.
