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Skymet Weather Team

IIT Kharagpur research group has designed the country's first superpower drone. The creators say that this automated drone is just under a meter in length and its uniqueness lies in the unmanned aerial device's protection shield. The design is completely in-house. Researchers have named after the second Pandava, Bhima.

BHIM has been built by using the internet of things, that contains physical devices, vehicles, buildings and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators and network connectivity. It can create a Wi-Fi zone within a nearly 1 km radius when it flies overhead.

Keeping in mind the conflict zones, the drone has a battery backup of seven hours and can fly into a disaster or war zone, thus making a consistent communication network for security forces, rescue personnel and even the common man.

The automated drone has been designed particularly for emergency situations with a vision-based guidance and built-in intelligence that will help in identifying if an area is crowded or not. It will then fly away and land in a safer place. The real power of the drone is its ability to maintain long flight times and drop emergency supplies by using parachutes.

Researchers at IIT Kharagpur took care to keep the automation lightweight, but with strong body movements, made of off-the-shelf indigenous components. This guarantees that it costs just one-fourth the price of any average drone used for surveillance in India now.

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