Sky is the limit for this young MAVerick from Bangalore

As 15-year-old Rohit Dey’s micro air vehicle (MAV) lifted off the ground at the science fest held at Christ College on Thursday, one couldn’t help but be reminded of Rancho from the movie 3 Idiots.

Winner of this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), Dey, who has also seven national awards, built the quadrotor (also called a quadrotor helicopter, it is a multicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors) from the scratch using scrap materials from refrigerators.

“I started with my project much before the movie 3 Idiots released. I am not flying this to grab people’s attention. My intention is to make them realise that quadrotor can be used for aerial surveillance, search and rescue, VIP security, traffic control and disaster management,” says Dey.

Dey has been constantly been improvising on his designs and has now started using aluminium rods instead of refrigerator parts as they are cost effective and easily available. His latest design can fly for 20 minutes at a stretch, an aspect he is trying to better. “My previous quadroter could fly for 12 minutes. I strive to make it better,” he says.

By attaching a camera to his quadroter, it can be used for VIP surveillance, traffic management etc and can go up to 75 kmph with a range of 9.9km. It is mounted with a camera that can send pictures and videos directly to a computer via GPS.

“He has been interested in making these MAVs since a very young age. In fact, his room is full of them. It comes naturally to him. All I can do is to support his vision and interest,” says Satya Ranjan Dey, Rohit’s father, who is a technical officer at NAL, Bangalore.

“Fests like these gives one a lot of confidence. I know that I would be taking valuable lessons back. After all, I am still learning and have a long way to go,” he says.