IIT Guwahati has created drones for use in warehouse operations, military operations, and law enforcement.

The aeromodelling club at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has designed a variety of drones including ‘warehouse drones’ for warehouse management, ‘reaper drones’ for military and law enforcement applications, and ‘ornithopter’ drones inspired by the design of birds for surveillance in confined areas.

The club is motivating students to use their imagination, technology and invention in aeromodelling and create smart drones with a simple design for the public, an official stated. IIT Guwahati, from the department of chemistry, professor, Chivukula Vasudeva Sastri, said that the club has designed several types of drones, including ‘Warehouse drones’ for warehouse management, ‘Reaper drones’ for military and law enforcement, ‘Ornithopter’ based on the model of birds that can be used for surveillance in narrow areas, for wildlife photography, and ‘RAVEN’, an Indian-made VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) equipped fixed-winged aircraft.

Apart from these projects, students have also designed a drone with a highly accurate firing system. The mechanism is built to go back to its original position after being used, awaiting the operator’s order for firing again, Sastri explained. In the real world, warehouses are one of the most challenging areas to manage, with repetitive tasks such as stock control or transporting objects to different areas.

Any delay in completing these tasks could lead to significant financial losses. To reduce human error, innovators have created a drone to get rid of labor-intensive duties that need a lot of time and repetitive physical efforts. “By slightly adjusting the program, the drone’s practicality can be changed from assessing water flow in agricultural areas to delivering things within a city by utilizing line following algorithms on roads and it could also be used to quickly identify items in industrial inventories,” Sastri mentioned.

Reaper is an autonomous aircraft created for military and law enforcement utilization, such as observing, recognizing targets, and tracking. It can also be used during natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, aiding disaster management teams in finding people in need of help with the use of hyperspectral imaging. Additionally, the drone can collect data on animals in any national parks or wildlife preserves and analyze their behavior.