City's first-ever drone fest sees jaw-dropping action

Dehradun: The whirr of the drones did little to drown out the enthusiastic cheers from over a 100 people who had assembled at the Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) campus in IT Park on Tuesday. The combined strength of man and machine was on display as participants tried to outdo each other using manoeuvres in the sky that left the audience shaking their heads from side to side, trying to catch all of the action.
The first-of-its-kind festival to showcase the latest in drone technology in Dehradun saw participation from 21 states on Tuesday.
The two-day festival ‘Dronathon-Dronagiri India Drone festival-2019’ is being organised jointly by the Drone Application and Research Centre (DARC) and the Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA). The event was inaugurated by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Over a 100 people from 21 states, including researchers from IIT Bombay, IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, students and enthusiasts, showcased the flying machines they had made. The drones included those used for crowd monitoring, delivery, surveillance etc.
The unmanned aerial vehicles were pitted against one another for various types of competitions such as hurdle racing in which a drone had to go around in circles without knocking down anything. Another competition was 'max weight challenge' which judged the machine on its capacity to carry weight over a certain distance. The results of both competitions would be declared on the last day of the event.
TOI caught up with some of the participants who shared the unique features of the power-packed drones perched on their stalls.
Ashutosh (who uses his first name), an employee of the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Chamoli, mentioned with a hint of pride that his Phantom-4 flying camera drone could travel up to 5km. “It can be used for assessment during disasters which is important in a state like Uttarakhand which has often borne the brunt of natural disasters,” he said.
Mumbai-based aviation expert Omkar Pandey featured the SAHAS drone, a rather apt name for a machine with a foldable body made up of carbon fibre. The drone can lift weights up to 2 kg.