With a large ecosystem of over 4,500 startups, India might be the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. But still, the number of hardware startups in the Indian subcontinent is very less when compared to their software counterparts. Hence, it is not quite often that a new, innovative hardware startup sprouts in the country. But one such startup that has been gaining a lot of traction since the past few months is, Kochi-based EyeROV.

The startup, which is currently pre-incubated at Kochi's Maker Village, has successfully developed an robotic drone that is capable of performing Visual inspection/survey of underwater/ submerged structures. The drone can send real-time video of ships or for that matter any underwater structure for maintenance and repair operations purposes.

The EyeROV drone has been successfully tested on India's first solar ferry at Vaikom and can be navigated up to a depth of 50 meters for taking real-time HD videos of ship hulls, bridge moorings and undersea cables etc.



The light rover, which can be easily controlled using a laptop/joystick, weighs less than 10 kgs and eliminates the need for manual inspection, which is very risky and costly at the same time. The technology can prove to be useful for inspection of dams, ports and nuclear power plants.

The startup founded by IIT alumni Johns T Mathai and Kannappa Palaniappan P recently grabbed eyeballs when it won the India edition of AlphaLab Gear National Hardware Cup. Not only did they walk with a cash prize of Rs 25,000, but the startup also got a chance to represent India in the international finals to be held at Pittsburg USA on April 18 and 19 and compete for a $50,000 grand prize.

About the Founders



While Johns is an Electrical Engineer with a Masters in Computer Technology from IIT Delhi; Kannappa, on the other hand, is a Mechanical Engineer and has a Masters Degree in Ocean Engineering from IIT Madras. During their undergraduate days at College of Engineering, Trivandrum, the duo had engaged in lots of robotics projects and had even won laurels at National Level Techfest. Johns brings on board 3 years of industrial experience (Grey Orange Robotics, Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore), while Kannappa has 2 years in experience (SAINT GOBAIN, NIOT). Together, they believe, they have a keen "eye" for engineering and creativity and EyeROV is example of just that.

[Top Image - EyeROV team with the judges of the Kochi AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup. (from left) Prof S Rajeev, Thenmozhi Shanmugam, Johns T Mathai, Mr Kannappa Palaniappan P, Jeyash P and Sreekumar V M / Picture Credit - newindianexpress.com]
Advertisements

Post a Comment

أحدث أقدم
Like this content? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get latest updates.