As part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations, DRDO has invited engineering students across the country to participate in a competition to build a micro-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Calling it a competition to identify the best “deployable low cost outdoor surveillance system with remote access to sensor imagery”, the sweepstakes looks to dig deeper into a science that student communities across the IITs and other technical institutions have taken to with great relish in the last few years, some spawning real products in their post-degree incubation companies. Hopefully DRDO will truly use the results to further its own research in the field.
“This product will be a working model for providing situational awareness by obtaining real-time information in outdoor applications,” says the DRDO’s invitation for applicants who’d like to participate. It further adds, “This competition envisages development of a suitable lightweight system in which a sensor is airborne for carrying out surveillance. The sensor should remain airborne for a minimum of 2 minutes at a minimum height of 30m and above to do imaging of a proportionate area below. Sensor should be able to detect man-sized objects in above-mentioned conditions. Recognizable real time video information should be transmitted to the ground receiver point suitably located in the observation area. Proposed solution should take up design of configuration and identification of suitable options for sensor, data link, ground observation & control points and other support system(s).”
A committee of DRDO and external (thankfully) experts will evaluate the proposals “from the point of view of approach to the problem, innovation, originality, technical feasibility. The ten best designs solutions will be awarded Rs. 50,000 each, the DRDO has announced. “Suitable prototype based on the stage 1 approach paper, along with detailed design document will have to be submitted for design evaluation and demonstration trials. The best team will be awarded first prize of Rs 3 lakh and second best team will be awarded Rs 2 lakh.”
Photo Copyright and of Micro-UAV by Seiko Epson Corporation
some progress in thoughts by drdo babus atleast
lazy bastards want to swindle students by letting them do all the hardwork, develop a micro-uav, and dupe them by buying it off for a couple of worthless lakhs of rupees. then they’ll bloody make some fineprint about how the patent is drdo’s own. students, please beware of this competition. but by all means do participate!
Anonymous @ 11:34 – stop with all the idioticy. Every country with a research department does this, from the United States to Russia to Japan to Britain to European nations. Calling DRDO scientists ‘lazy bastards’ makes you one, as you obviously have no idea what goes on there.
(For what it’s worth, I’ve never worked at DRDO or know anyone working there)
Shiv: Look up MAV08 on the internet. I was one of those who took part in it. If you want to know more, contact our common friend M in a Texas university, he can give you my ID.
Infact they should hold more such competitions. They should also provide grants or selected institutions which develop good practical items.
Students should get a lot of exposure and encouragement. They can successfully replace the lack of innovation and fresh blood in DRDO. Shortsightedness of DRDO is what has kept privates and educational institutes out of research on sensitive technology. Students will be more economic and resourceful since they work on a scanty budgets.
Great Idea my DRDO !!! Promoting interest about research and real scieces. Feel price money should be increased (As they hav wasted lot of money for Kaveri Engine etc…)
Sounds more like a drawing/paining competition announced by a school, on its annual function day….with cash prizes et al…
And this Shiv Aroor is a school boy to get excited by such stories …..as if the IITians are to be fooled by DRDO and stay here..is it some kkind of a attrition-decreasing/stopping drive by DRDO, and hence have paid and hired Aroor to be thier career consultant/job agent…great job Aroor
Why dont you also ask DRDO for a job, as it is you do nothing for Headlines, except ladkiyan chodna, from what I have heard and also read here. Whoever exposes you, must say, has sources and writes the truth…
A committee of DRDO and external (thankfully) experts will evaluate the proposals
……………………………….
what do you mean by the word “thankfully” in this case ??
also, whatever happened to the LCH/LOH article.
@the idiotic anons who think they are super intelligent:
this type of thing is not new, what is new is the organized attempt by DRDO to tap the student potential.
for example, an engg college in Kolkata, the IEM developed a mini chopper with its own funds which was then given a grant by DRDO to further the work.
whoever is commenting here, have shame posting phone numbers. it is a crime. have some decency against doing such silly stupid things in a public space.
the person who is posting here got flamed in south block today i heard!!!
only 3 lakhs??? also selected models will be given only 50,000!!!
WTF.. working for peanuts!!!
micro-price for micro-UAV.
shiv please maintain the seriousness of the blog. please ban people who seeking to defile this place. throw them out.
Correction – Nobody is working for nobody here. The prize money is just a token. The intent behind the exercise is to promote planning, design and development of fresh concepts.
In creating a working craft which satisfies the DRDO set requirements (with JUST 3 lakhs) money is just one additional constraint to those of actual design, development problems. Who know, one of those college student may be the next Abdul Kalam…. or another Tata starting a private design/research firm.
micro UAV?? So they have given up on LCA heh?(yeah u will say that LCA doestnt make LCA, but then everything is sarkari!!)
Anyways micro UAV will also fail and then with help from israeli people they will complete the project, result- an ouydated thing.
And yeah they will put bars on india against exporting it……
WOW!! DRDO using their brains after some time!! a good step to harness the potential of our young minds..
To those who say DRDo is lazy, you arent’ seeing the bigger picture that our 300mil youth population may have fresher and more relevant ideas than the 10000 odd DRDo staff who I guess have been there for the last 3 decades!
In fact even US n EU have such things!
SHiv,
is it an alternate day basis where comments are moderated?
Today mod, tomorrow not..?
Pls confirm, atleast I can then avoid the moderated days
cont’d frm 1st post.. agreed, minimum shd be 50 lakh.. top 10 won’t even receive enough to cover their costs!
instead of saying rubbish to drdo.you should take up the challenge and prove your worth.so shut a bit up and try to score something here.thank you drdo for showing interest.
MAN.. if there is one enemy to our growth, it our own attitude. Accepting defeat even before trying, the thinking that white skinned inventions are better than local ones, underestimating the potential of our scientist and more importantly future scientists (students).
Do we(even defense journalists) even know the first thing about problems faced by DRDO on the ground? We have this attitude of walking into a super market and buying a packaged stuff and passing our opinion on it. Inventions dont come of of boxes, giftwrapped. There may be 100s of slip ups making a world class product.
Passing comment and opinion on DRDO, most of which is not even knowledgeable or truthful. Unless this attitude change, India will go nowhere.
Draki, DRDO is using our TAX MONEY for their projects.. nothing to thank them
when will the deadlines be announced??
….ya, they are using YOUR TAX money …to safe guard you and your ungrateful family…….
Any way, forgetting these thankless thoughtless commentors, that is a great effort from DRDO, at last, to tap the young and innovative brains of India.
Some of the above comments are tru to some extent, too. There is no harm in giving a second thought and be cautious–
– DRDO need not ‘pay’ anything more than the prize money to use the emerging technology.
– They will land up with some 100 different plans for this at one sitting. The cost of 10Lakhs wil be nothing @Rs.1lakh per design or so. Whether they’ll understand any of it is another question.
– They have already hijacked enough ideas and are in the process of implementing them, without due acknowledgement or credit to the innovators, looking at their press releases….
– It will be enough if they just credit the innovators even if they dont PAY them!!!!!
Good Luck to all of you who wish to compete!!!
The DRDO dates clash with the VTU exams in Karnataka.
How can we design, test, implement and demo the project when the exams are going on??
So a lot of us have not applied for the contest.
…and DRDO does not reply or acknowledge emails sent to them by students. Today is the last day and they STILL havent clarified!!!
….and the Engineering semester Exams of all colleges ( some 150 colleges) of Karnataka , affiliated to VTU ( Vishveshwaraiah Tech University) run till the 16th of Jan 09!!!!!
i have a huge question about this small competition… where have they mentioned that it is a micro uav, by lite weight maybe they mean something small not as big as a cessna… i mean what is the lightness relative to…
When will the results be out???
Only list of Entries received has been announced
So when do we get to know? they hv said it’ll be put up later. werent 25 days enought to evaluate 272 entries?. Are only 2 teams allowed per college?? IIT kgp has 4. I hv a feeling they just compiled the list yesterday and put it up. wat say..
u all above r a bunch of mere mother fuckers just thinking of ur own. Its ok that DRDO lack fresh blood and innovation, bt we can use our mind fr the sake of our country. if some of u spend liitle amount of money in this competition then none of ur mother r going 2 get fucked via DRDO scientist.
Think fr that u assoles
hv the result of students competition come out….the site does not look updated except for the colors…
Results of stage1 announced!!
….was THERE A COMPETITION????
oR IS IT THE golden jubilee hoax????
It is very interesting for me to read that post. Thank author for it. I like such themes and anything that is connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.
Keep on posting such themes. I love to read blogs like that. By the way add some pics 🙂
Sir I make a ion thruster I am first year b.tech student and want to work in my model which I make..