In an example of successful industry-academia partnership, public-sector defence electronics firm Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), has successfully built a tethered drone in collaboration with Anna University. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called ‘Patang’, which means kite in Hindi, has been developed for surveillance and broadcasting and is ready for commercialisation. The drone, which is customisable, can fly for several hours with the help of a tethered power station and operate at an altitude of 100 meters.
The drone is suited for airborne applications that require long endurance, and is built to withstand harsh environments. The applications include border as well as city surveillance, crowd analysis and traffic information, apart from wild animal tracking, reconnaissance and search and rescue during disasters.
