IIT Guwahati enters an agreement with business partners to launch a drone-flying academy.

In order to build a commercial drone-flying school on its campus, the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with business partners.

According to a statement released by the institute on Thursday, IITG signed the MoU with Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited (AMTRON) and R C Hobbytech Solutions (RCH) to collaborate on strengthening and expanding drone-based training, research and development, and manufacturing for a variety of sectors, including agriculture, disaster management, wildlife conservation, and health care.

The MoU was signed on Wednesday by the acting director of IITG, Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer, the managing director of AMTRON, S. Sundar, and the co-founder of RCH, Biswajit Dey.

Iyer was reported in the statement as saying, "The three organizations will collaborate and actively engage in research and development activities, and the members of the IITG Drone Centre and Technology Incubation Hub will be a vital part of this endeavor."

The commercial drone-flying school will provide commercial drone flying introductory courses as well as other relevant advisory and consultancy services, such as assisting clients with renewing their drone pilot's license, obtaining required commercial drone permits, and assisting clients with test preparation.

According to the press release, the school will also put its pupils in touch with businesses that require qualified drone pilots.

The professional programs will provide a wide range of services, including drone-based mapping and surveying, courses in geographic information systems, and programs in coding and artificial intelligence.

In order to acquire a few prototype drones approved by the Quality Council of India (QCI), IITG will work on building them first with assistance from industry partners. The Institute will offer all the required equipment, software, connected hardware, and other utilities for the project.

To locate and manage any crisis in Assam, a disaster response management system would be created.

A team of professionals and students will be assembled for the task, and ready-to-fly surveillance and payload delivery drones will also be set up, according to the press release.

AMTRON will assist communication, IITG will create drones to meet the state's needs, and RCH will contribute the technological know-how required to create the drones and related systems.

AMTRON Drone Team and the Drone Helpline Student Volunteer Team of the Institute will run the Disaster Response Cell at IIT Guwahati, according to a press release.

(source : PTI)