What’s in News:

• The Defence Minister unveiled the second edition of the ‘Mehar Baba’ swarm drone competition by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for Indian start-ups to develop a swarm drone based system to detect foreign objects on aircraft operating surfaces.
• The competition was conceptualised to evolve proprietary design, development, manufacturing and production of low cost-high impact solutions for swarm drone technology. It is open to only indigenous talent and indigenous start-ups.
• The system will be able to carry a range of payloads and sensors, have image correction ability, provide alerts and provide accurate location and discernable image of foreign objects.

Uses of Swarm Drones

• Swarm drones work together in algorithms—swarming is achieved by developing the capability of each drone to not strike another drone while in formation.
• Swarm drone systems should be able to scan and detect sub-centimetre size foreign objects on aircraft operating surfaces.
• The system will  be able to operate in a GPS denied environment, and operate day and night and in reduced visibility as well as light windy conditions.
• Utilisation of varied domains, including response to disaster relief operation

Read about latest Drone Regulations-

• https://officerspulse.com/indias-new-drone-rules-and-regulations/

• https://officerspulse.com/drone-draft-rules-impetus-to-future-tech/

Read about Drones- 

• https://officerspulse.com/drones/ 

References:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajnath-singh-launches-second-edition-of-swarm-drone-competition-for-start-ups/article65296709.ece
2. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/iaf-announces-winners-mehar-baba-swarm-drone-competition-7588658/