A 14-year-old in Gujarat received a Rs 5 crore (50 Million Rupees = $730,00 )Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the production of drones designed by him, reported the Times of India.
Harshwardhan Zala signed a deal with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat for manufacturing drones that would be able to detect and defuse land mines on a battle field.
Speaking to The Times of India, he described the drone as a device being equipped with sensors and thermal meters along with a 21-megapixel camera for taking high resolution pictures. He said, “The drone has been equipped with infrared, RGB sensor and a thermal meter along with a 21-megapixel camera with a mechanical shutter that can take high resolution pictures as well.”
The drone can send out waves up to eight square meters while it is two feet above ground level. These waves are able to detect land mines and send their location to the authorities. “The drone also carries a bomb weighing 50 gram that can be used to destroy the landmine,” he told TOI further.
The teen has registered for patenting his design and named his company ‘Aerobotics’. “I started making drones on my own and set up an interface with a base station but realised I need to do more. So I fixed payloads that detect landmines. I have several other plans that I want to execute once the patent for this drone is registered,” he said.
The young teen drew attention in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit where the deal was signed for the designs he’d been working on since 2016. The building of the first two prototypes took Rs 2 lakh, which was provided by his parents and the third one costing Rs 3 lakh was paid for by the state.
Source: The Indian Express