Drones in Agriculture

Date: 19.11.2021
Time: 03:00 PM

Watch the session live on our YouTube channel: Science, Technology & Innovation in India 

Speakers

INDUSTRY

Shivakumar HG, Multiplex Drone Pvt. Ltd.



As Head, Technology, and Operations at Multiplex Drone Pvt Ltd., Shivakumar monitors a team of UAV Design Engineers and UAV Pilots. The company has developed Drones used in the agriculture sector, with various payloads of 5 Liter, 10-liter, 16 liter, and 25 Liter capacity. He is monitoring a fleet of 15 ‘agricultural drones’ and a team of 20 drone pilots for spraying pesticides, fungicides, and growth promoters for more than 2000 acres in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. The company initiated a collaboration with the Indian Institute of Drones and Pioneer Flying Academy for Drone Training in the Karnataka Region. They have certified more than 110 Drone Pilots to date. Before this stint at Multiplex Drone, Shivakumar taught Aircraft Systems, Finite Element Methods; Fracture Mechanics; Aircraft Structures; and Solid Mechanics at the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Ramaiah University of Applied Science, Bangalore.

Somnath Dasgupta, Prime UAV



Somnath has 23 years of corporate experience in senior management roles. Some of the agricultural services provided by Prime UAV range include spraying pesticides, monitoring crop health pre-harvest, assessment of crop damage, detection of leakage in irrigation systems to more effective use of water resources, and other such services.

ACADEMIA

Dr. Hemendra Arya, IIT Bombay



Prof. Hemendra Arya is an Associate Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He obtained his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Jodhpur University and later obtained M.Tech and Ph.D. from Aerospace Engineering Department, IIT Bombay. He is a member of a core team of the National Center of Excellence in Technology for Internal Security (NCETIS) at IIT Bombay. His main research interests are Hardware-In-Loop-Simulation, UAV design, UAV system development, Swarming algorithm and implementation, Systems Engineering. Recently started working towards the application of drones in agriculture domain. His teaching interests are Aerospace measurements, Flight mechanics, Systems Engineering, Modelling, and Simulation of aerospace systems.

Abhishek Burman, General Aeronautics Pvt. Ltd.



Abhishek Burman, comes with over 20 years of experience working in the Aeronautical domain. With a background in Aerodynamics, Abhishek worked on multiple defense and commercial aircraft projects with various organizations such as ADA and NAL. General Aeronautics is contributing to sustainable agriculture practices through deep research and cutting-edge aeronautical engineering. The organization’s total crop protection solution is built on Drone technology, Artificial Intelligence, and crop science.