HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 4: The North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous body under Department of Science and Technology on Friday organized a live demonstration of the NECTAR supported technology for development of Aerostatic Drone at Malki Forest, in the presence of the Director General of NECTAR, Arun Kumar Sarma, S Kharbudnah Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) from RiBhoi and East Khasi Hills (Territorial), Deputy Commandant Rajneesh Kumar from the 7 Signals battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), H Tynsong, Scientist E from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Shri Gautam Kumar Bhattacharya, Assistant Engineer from Brahmaputra Board, and professor L Joyprakash Singh from North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Colin Z Renthlei, Advisor (Tech) and senior officials from NECTAR.
This groundbreaking technology is developed by Airbotix Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon and it is the first of its kind in India, designed with high endurance and aerostatically stable capabilities to deploy for forest surveillance, wildlife monitoring, border and disaster surveillance application. Aerostatic drones are aerial platforms that derive their lift from both buoyancy and aerodynamics. This makes them very energy efficient making them a better alternative for tethered drones. Aerostatic drones are silent as they do not require constant thrust to stay afloat, making them cost-effective and versatile solution for providing persistent surveillance.
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The aerostatic drone provides a silent aerial platform that can persistently stay afloat for surveillance with an endurance of over 4 hours. The system is designed to be modular and could be integrated with any ground vehicle or can be installed at any site. The drone can be utilized for a variety of use cases such as wildlife monitoring, forest surveillance, crowd monitoring, border security and disaster surveillance to name a few.
 The flexibility to equip the drone with both day and night camera as well as any other payload such as telecommunication relay and anti-drone payload. The Day and Night Vision Camera cameras further enhances its utility, especially in tracking monitoring forests for illegal activities such as poaching, smuggling and logging, as well as by providing support for security operations along borders. During the demonstration, participants from various organizations had the opportunity to interact with Col. Rajesh Gandhi (retd.) and Dr. Sohan Suvarna from Airbotix Technology and inquire about the drone’s technical capabilities.
Of particular interest were the features related to surveillance using thermal imaging and the detection capabilities, with officials from the CRPF showing a keen interest in how the drone could enhance their operations, particularly in border surveillance and security in challenging terrains. The ability of the drone to operate in both daylight and low-visibility conditions using thermal cameras was highlighted as a significant asset for security personnel.
