Kolkata: Claimed to be the world's smallest
and lightest, Carbon, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
developed by a private firm can be used for anti-terrorist and
counter insurgency operations besides disaster management and
aerial photography.
It flies using four high-speed propellers (quadrotor)
that allow vertical take-off and landing and built-in
intelligence in the controller system makes the UAV to return
to the starting point on its own.
"The quadrotor is a highly complex system compared to
fixed wing, and it is one of the best in the world," says
Hemendra Arya, Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace
Engineering, IIT Bombay.
"The device has been manufactured using carbon fiber
composites, and hence the name. Carbon's intuitive point and
click graphical user interface requires minimal user
assistance," said 26-year-old Ashish Bhat, one of the founders
of Mumbai-based ideaForge Technology, which developed it.
The Carbon weighs just 1.5 kilograms and has a range of
one km. With externally swappable Li-Pc batteries, it can fly
up to 30 minutes per battery charge.
On-board stabilisation is achieved by a smart intelligent
auto-pilot controller receiving inputs from a GPS, gyro,
magnetometers, accelerometers, and altitude sensors, he said.
Bhat's UAV has won a prize for the Best Autonomous
Hovering Vehicle from among 16 international teams in the
first US-Asian Demonstration and Assessment of Micro Aerial
and Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, April 04, 2010, 10:50