First Flight

Insight, an enterprise-grade drone built by a Bengaluru-based startup Aarav Unmanned Systems’ (AUS), has emerged as the first to be certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) under the ‘small drones’ category.

The category is part of the No-Permission No-Takeoff (NPNT) regulation laid down by the DGCA in its recently released Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) for drone operations in India.

Drones weighing between 250g and 2 kg are categorised as ‘micro.’ These have fewer compliances to meet and are limited by performance and capability to carry payloads for commercial operations.

Small category drones weigh between 2 kg and 25 kg. These are capable of long endurance and could carry heavier, more advanced sensors. They also need to meet additional compliances laid down by the CAR.

So far, three Indian drone startups have obtained certification under the micro category, while AUS is the first to get the certification under the small category.

Drones were permitted to legally operate in India following a draft proposal by DGCA in October 2017. AUS, the city-based startup founded by Vipul Singh, Suhas Banshiwala and Yeshwanth Reddy in 2013, had jumped into the fray seeking approvals for practical applications for drones.

Mining, where land patterns are constantly changing, is a key area for drone application. AUS cofounder Vipul Singh contends that the amount of data captured through drones can be up to two million times more than the information gathered through other techniques.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Bengaluru Infrastructure / by Rasheed Kappan / DH News Service / September 04th, 2019