Crop patterns, regardless of the reasons for their cause, have for long bewildered farmers and scientists alike since they were first recorded. While progress in technology has been aiding authorities concerned in recording the pattern over the years, a group of scientists working under close to Rs 100-crore National Programme for Micro Aerial Vehicles (NP-MICAV) are developing micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) that look like insects to record and monitor the same. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Mr K Ramachandra, Chief Executive Officer, NP-MICAV said: “Work is on to develop insect-like MAVs that will work on the flapping wing technology. While we already have demonstrated flights of fixed wing MAVs, we are looking at having technology demonstrations of this in the near future.” Speaking about the applications, he said: “These MAVs, once developed will have the ability to record crop patterns and water levels, which we think is a novel application, given the kind of roles MAVs are going to play in the future.” Crop patterns or circles, refer to destruction of crops in certain parts of the field or large agricultural areas due to natural calamities, diseases, or caused due to insects and so on. The MAV will be mounted with micro-technologies, such as Micro electromechanical Systems, miniature CCD/video cameras, tiny infrared sensors and other detectors. “We can either monitor or analyse the patterns online using live data transmitted by the vehicle or do it offline at the ground control centres once we have received the raw information,” Mr Ramachandra said. He said that such MAVs will have the ability to take off vertically and need not be thrusted manually or otherwise. “…They will work like present day chopper and take off vertically,” he said, adding that they are likely to have a maximum dimension of 15 cm and a gross weight of 100-220 gm. National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL), which is one of the centres for the project that is being implemented under the umbrella of the National Design and Research Forum (NDRF) has put in place a fully functional facility to design and prototype flapping wing MAVs. The conceptual design for such a vehicle is happening using Open Source and highly reliable aerodynamic analysis software packages. Sources said that the insect-like MAVs, unlike other flapping wing technology designed based on the functioning of birds, will have a greater ability to hover, which is required for such operations. “Insects flap their wings in a nearly horizontal plane and can produce lift even in the absence of any forward velocity, which is what we are looking at,” another source said.
Source: Deccan Herald
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