SWITCH UAV - Indigenously developed fixed-wing VTOL UAV designed for a wide range of security and surveillance applications for Indian Armed Forces.
The Indian armed forces wanted to deploy advanced and autonomous surveillance solutions for their challenging surveillance missions on borders. The forces wanted to detect threats and identify risk-prone areas from remote locations for border surveillance, anti-terror operations, as well as conduct reconnaissance missions and track illegal activities without putting the lives of soldiers at risk. These missions are always carried out on high altitude range, on extreme terrains and in harsh weather. There is often risk of soldiers’ lives, aborting missions due to unforeseen circumstances and limitation/lack of resources. ideaForge has responded to the ask, and developed all terrain dominator drone, SWITCH. Designed and developed by ideaForge, SWITCH UAV is India's first-ever fixed-wing VTOL UAV. It is packed with software and hardware innovations to deliver a robust military-grade UAV. Since a runway is not required, it has excellent agility and can travel across a range of terrains smoothly. SWITCH features advanced flight time, higher safety, and simple operation with additional fail-safe redundancies. It has been tested and certified to meet the internationally renowned JSS 55555 and Mil Standard 461E for EMI EMC military quality standards. With three repeat orders from the Indian Army, including the largest mini-VTOL UAV contract in the world, in 2023 SWITCH UAV has won the national technology award by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Inspired by birds, the way they glide and fly high up in the air, ideaForge crafted a rugged structure that can withstand extreme terrains and harsh weather. Usually, fixed-wing drones require a runway, and this raises challenges for operations lacking a runway in space-constrained regions. Departing from the limitations of fixed-wing drones, the team sought to craft runway-independent hybrids, combining the endurance of fixed wings with the agility of quadcopters. This innovation allows for remarkable endurance and operational flexibility, even in space-constrained environments.
Sky, Space And Communication Technologies
Drones and drone solutions
~3 years
The solution is deployed PAN India, s=majorly targeting the borders and LAC.
ideaForge is the pioneer and the pre-eminent market leader in the Indian unmanned aircraft systems market. It had the largest operational deployment of indigenous UAVs across India, with an ideaForge-manufactured drone taking off every five minutes. With 500,000+ successful flights, ideaForge UAVs are equipped with industry leading specifications and capabilities, comparable to those of other established global players in the UAV industry. ideaForge has been ranked 5th globally in the dual-use category (civil and defense) drone manufacturers as per the report published by Drone Industry Insights in December 2023. It is a vertically integrated company with an in-house product development centre, allowing us to design, develop, engineer, and manufacture indigenous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). ideaForge has technologies in house and has over 38 Indian and global IP Rights over the complete technology stack (s/w and h/w) of its drones. All the critical component’s design and Intellectual Property rights are with ideaForge Technology. Hence, designing and manufacturing of ideaForge drones are not dependent on any other company. SWITCH UAV is easy to handle, portable and reliable even at extreme environments. It can be operated even in adverse weather conditions. It is a lightweight man portable drone as compared to other drones and does not require manual assistance. It possesses amazing Failsafe features such as Auto-Return to home and land on communication failure, so users should not worry about a low battery or cases of exceeding the UAV health parameters like temperature, vibration, etc. It is integrated with an Intelligent autopilot and features like moving target indicator, terrain avoidance. It can be customized as per requirements. It has over 120 mins flight time and up to 15km operational range with autonomous flight completion capability and is equipped with patented live streaming technology with split-screen view for real-time video streaming. It is incorporated with the uniquely developed EPP foam-based UAV battery enclosure for maintaining the temperature of the UAV battery during sub-zero temperature. the UAV system is also equipped with a special convertible multi-functional UAV packing box. This is particularly utilized by soldiers who fly drones in uneven terrain and harsh climates. Equipped with our patented live streaming of video data in a low-bandwidth network technology, it streams live data without deleting any key frames for smooth video streaming.
National Technology Award by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India | India’s Business Excellence by Dun & Bradstreet | India’s Business Leader by CNBC-TV18 | National Intellectual Property Award under 'Top Indian MSMEs for Patents and Commercialization’ category | Industrial Company of the Year by VCCircle, and many more.
Total 7 IPs (for SWITCH UAV): A Packing Case For Unmanned Aerial Vehicle | System And Method For Providing Live Streaming Of Video Data In A Low-Bandwidth Network | System And Method For Displaying Elements of an Application in Split Screen View | EPP Foam Based UAV Battery Enclosure | Advanced Pilot Assistance System (Apas) For Estimating Coverage Area And Viewing Area And Method Thereof | Fixed-Wing Vertical Take-Off & Landing Hybrid UAV | Novel Cylindrical Cell Arrangement for Battery Pack.
