In a never-before-seen display, one thousand Made in India drones produced by BotLab Dynamics, a startup incubated at IIT Delhi, lit up Delhi's skies at the Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29.
The sky dazzled with drones, made with indigenous technology, synchronised with background music as the show lasted for around 10 minutes. Apart from India, only the US, Russia and China have the capability to put together a 1,000-drone show.
A projection mapping show done by the startup to commemorate 75 years of independence on the walls of North Block and South Block also added to the ambience.
A mega drone show involving 1000 drones lit up the sky today during the Beating the Retreat ceremony. #BeatingRetreat pic.twitter.com/YYbvTVLYHR— MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) January 29, 2022
BotLab Dynamics, led by IIT alumni, was given an initial seed fund of Rs 1 crore for R&D by Department of Science & Technology and then Rs 2.5 crore for scale-up and commercialisation by Technology Development Board to develop a first of its kind tech project in India, said Union minister of state for science and technology Dr Jitendra Singh.
Singh also felt proud that both hardware and software for the project was developed within the country, such as the flight controller (brain of the drone); precision GPS; motor controller; ground control station algorithms, etc.
“The dazzling drone show stole the limelight at the Raisina Hills today,” said Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a Twitter post. He added that he is happy and proud to know that these drones, made in India, were produced by a startup incubated at IIT Delhi.
The dazzling drone show stole the limelight at the Raisina Hills today.What makes me more happy and proud is that these #MadeInIndia drones are a brainchild of a start-up incubated at @iitdelhi.
Salute the innovative capital and entrepreneurial spirit of #NewIndia. pic.twitter.com/j9auMvSJkM
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) January 29, 2022
Dr Sarita Ahlawat, managing director of BotLab Dynamics, thanked Singh for all the support and encouragement for the project.
According to the BotLab Dynamics website, the company focuses on drone use in media and entertainment, as well as defence. “We are building drone technology solutions by designing both hardware and software in-house,” it claims.
The Beating Retreat ceremony marked the end of Republic Day celebrations that started this year a day early with Parakram Divas on January 23 to mark the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose. The ceremony is a military tradition that dates back to 17th century England marking the end of a day of combat.
This year’s ceremony was conceptualised, designed, produced and choreographed under the Make in India initiative.
(With agency inputs)
