Interview with Mr. Rahul Singh – Vice President, ideaForge Technology Ltd

ideaForge Technology is the pioneer and the pre-eminent market leader in the Indian unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”) market, with a market share of approximately 50% in fiscal 2022. Founded in 2007 and led by first-generation entrepreneurs, ideaForge primarily caters to customers with applications for surveillance, mapping, and surveying. Its customers include the armed forces, central armed police forces, state police departments, disaster management forces, and forest departments among other civil customers. It is one of the first few companies in India to enter the UAV market and ranks 7th globally in the dual-use category i.e. civil and defense as per the report published by Drone Industry Insights in Dec 2022.

To know more about the company and its plans, we had an interaction with Rahul Singh, Promoter, VP – Engineering and Whole Time Director, ideaForge Technology Ltd.

He holds a degree in bachelor of technology in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He received the Young Alumnus Achiever Award from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in the year 2020. He has been associated with the company since its incorporation and has experience in the drone business. He is in charge of driving innovation and product and technology roadmap.

Congratulations on the IPO. How did it occur to you and your co-founders to start a journey in aerial robotics?

The founding team launched the company back in 2007 after we all graduated from IIT-B. However, in 2004 we built and flew one of the first quadrotor drones in India for a competition at IIT-B. And five years after this, in 2009, ideaForge launched NETRA UAV, India’s first quadcopter drone, at DEFEXPO.

Back in those days, there was a prevailing excitement surrounding software development. However, the founding team of ideaForge had a distinct focus on hardware. We possessed a strong desire to create and build something tangible, and we were privileged enough to receive funding from IIT Bombay to pursue our dreams. As we delved into various projects during our college exploration, one idea that intrigued us was constructing a hovercraft out of the engines that people would want to scavenge from the old, discarded bikes. Ankit Mehta, CEO of ideaForge, happened to head an innovation cell at IIT Bombay, which offered funding for innovative ideas.

Nonetheless, we realized that patenting a hovercraft concept might not be immediately feasible. This prompted us to seek a patentable idea, eventually leading us to conceptualize a quadrotor that was mechanically simpler and intrinsically stable in terms of control management.

And that’s when, in 2004, we decided to build our first prototype. Subsequently, we collaborated with IIT Bombay’s aerospace department to develop avionics and electronics for various radio-controlled aircraft and, eventually, drones. The team even participated in a competition alongside MIT US, securing a prominent position.

However, in 2008, when the devastating Mumbai attacks occurred, we resolved to harness this technology and create a product that could assist our armed forces during such crises. And in 2009, we launched India’s first fully autonomous drone technology, which is used for homeland security, defense, and civil purposes.

Give us a sense of what kind of drones you have manufactured.

ideaForge has one of the industry’s leading product portfolios targeted at civil and defense applications (dual use). It has a broad range of products with feature-based differentiation such as weight class (approximately 2-7 kg), endurance class (25-120 minutes flying time), take-off altitude range (up to 6,000 meters), communication range (approximately 2-15 km), payload types, etc.

Beyond the UAVs, the company also undertakes a full integration of payloads, communication system, and packaging. Our UAVs are easily portable as the packaging is designed in such a way that all the components can be carried as a backpack.

Our product portfolio includes surveillance and mapping UAVs such as SWITCH, Q4i, NETRA V4+, NETRA V4 PRO, NINJA, RYNO, and Q6 UAV, as well as Ground Control Station Software that controls and manages our UAVs and autopilot sub-system, and solutions that enable industry/application-specific software that increases the value of our UAVs to the end customer.

Our diverse product offering provides us with the necessary flexibility to meet the changing needs of diverse customers across industries. Our drones are used for various applications such as border surveillance, anti-terror operations, coastal security and surveillance, crime and traffic control, forest and wildlife, disaster management, mapping, surveying, construction and real estate, agriculture, and many more.

How are your drones different compared to your competitors?

ideaForge is a vertically integrated company with an in-house product development center, allowing it to design, develop, engineer, and manufacture indigenous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The company had the largest operational deployment of indigenous UAVs across India, with an ideaForge-manufactured drone taking off every five minutes on average for surveillance and mapping. As of today, our customers have completed over 350,000 flights using our UAVs.

With over 25 patents to its name, the company uses them to create deep integrations with customer workflows for a seamless experience for the end-users. The company is continually innovating and experimenting to transform its aerial platforms, to offer greater performance, higher reliability, and autonomy. ideaForge is one of the few original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with its own proprietary autopilot subsystem and ground control software in the world.

ideaForge doesn’t have a technical technology dependence on any other company either in India or outside India. 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 foreign company.

While imparting pilot and maintenance training is an integral part of our offerings, however, to accelerate the learning curve of pilots operating ideaForge’s drone and to reinforce safe practices, ideaForge has an on-boarded microlearning platform. The company has introduced reinforced learning for each of the pilots of its drones, allowing them to operate their drones more safely and effectively.

Also, In line with its vision for drone technology, ideaForge has partnered with an AI & ML pioneered Indian Multi National Company, to innovate drone technology through artificial intelligence and video analytics solutions.

ideaForge has significant achievements in critical technologies in-house and is NDAA SEC848 compliant and has significantly filled the vacuum of increased demand created by the need for Chinese drones in the market. It has successfully maneuvered through the global shortage of the semiconductor market with its agility by exploring alternative technology.

How are these drones helping the civil and defense sector?

ideaForge UAVs serve the defense and civil sectors, primarily for surveillance, mapping, and surveying applications. Its customers include Indian defense forces and other customers comprising certain of the central armed police forces, state police departments, disaster management forces, forest departments, government and private entities, enterprise sectors, civil customers, and many more. Further, ideaForge’s UAVs are deployed to address construction, infrastructure, retail, agriculture, and delivery applications.

The Indian Defense Forces have deployed ideaForge UAVs for various applications such as surveillance of border areas, anti-terrorist operations, disaster management, search and rescue operations, and others. Whereas the homeland security departments and other government authorities are using our UAVs for applications such as traffic monitoring, crime control, crowd management during various festivals or rallies, and disaster management such as pandemics, fire, and earthquakes.

Further, our UAVs are also used for various mapping and land surveying operations. ideaForge is actively associated with the Indian Government’s world’s largest land digitizing scheme, SVAMITVA Scheme. ideaForge UAVs help reduce operations time and boost the efficiency and productivity of the operation.

Will this be a “Make in India” drone that can go global? What are your global plans? Who are your partners to collaborate with?

Yes, ideaForge is committed to designing, developing, and manufacturing indigenous drones to assist India in becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat. At the same time, we have expanded our international business. The company has established a presence in Oman, Bhutan, and Nigeria, by supplying small numbers of drones for our esteemed clients in these countries. And now ideaForge has begun operations in North America and established an office to serve worldwide consumers. We cater to security, surveillance, and mapping applications there.

We have already gotten an incredible response after participating in prominent international drone expos. ideaForge has teamed with prominent distributors and resellers like RMUS, Ingram Micro, Savex Technologies, and others to expand its global distribution system and support network.

Can you elaborate on technologies that you would have built grounds up to support the business?

ideaForge UAVs are equipped with industry-leading specifications and capabilities, comparable to those of other established global players in the UAV industry. Our in-house design, development, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities have enabled the company to develop better products in response to changing customer demands, thereby improving customer experience with its products. ideaForge’s UAV platforms are designed with a ‘mission first’ approach, which means they are designed to deliver UAVs that meet customers’ needs, can sustain a large number of flights reliably, and can be operated autonomously without the need for special skills or training.

ideaForge is one of the few original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with its own proprietary autopilot subsystem and ground control software in the world. The company has over 25 patents as a result of its ongoing product development and innovation efforts.

ideaForge doesn’t have a technical technology dependence on any other company either in India or outside India. 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 foreign company.

The company is working to create indigenous vertical integrations (vendors and collaborations) for an India-made UAV with critical subsystems Made in India. ideaForge has most of its components created and developed indigenously (in India). Further, all their ‘critical’ subsystems that directly relate to data security and flight efficacy are developed in-house or through validated Indian vendors.

ideaForge has significant achievements in critical technologies in-house and is NDAA SEC848 compliant and has significantly filled the vacuum of increased demand created by the need for Chinese drones in the market. It has successfully maneuvered through the global shortage of the semiconductor market with its agility by exploring alternative technology.

What are your thoughts on aerial robotics’ future in this country? Say in the coming decade, what kind of growth & adoption do you see?

Looking ahead to the coming decade, it is reasonable to anticipate substantial growth and adoption of aerial robotics in several areas. Aerial robotics will likely see increased adoption in commercial sectors such as logistics and e-commerce. Delivery drones have already demonstrated their potential for efficient last-mile deliveries. As regulations evolve, we may see further integration of drones into supply chains and transportation networks.

Aerial robotics can offer significant advantages in inspecting infrastructure such as bridges, pipelines, power lines, and buildings. Drones are becoming the must-have technology in Agriculture and Environmental Monitoring, Public Safety and Emergency Response, Defence, and many more sectors. In the coming decade, we will see its inseparable use and advanced applications.

However, the growth and adoption of aerial robotics will depend on several factors, including regulatory frameworks, public acceptance, technological advancements, and addressing safety and privacy concerns. Striking the right balance between innovation and regulation will be crucial to ensure the safe and responsible use of aerial robotics.

Overall, the potential for growth and adoption of aerial robotics in the coming decade is promising. Continued advancements in technology, supportive regulatory environments, and expanding use cases are likely to drive increased utilization of aerial robotics across a wide range of industries and sectors.