KSUM Startup EyeROV Wins DRDO Contract for Long Range ROV

KOCHI:
The country’s first commercial underwater-drone technology company EyeROV won the TDF scheme fund to “develop a long-range remotely-operated vehicle for underwater object detection and neutralization”, and signed an agreement with Defence Research and Development Organization.

Directorate of Technology Development Fund (DTDF) Director and Scientist ‘G’ Nidhi Bansal and EyeROV Cofounder Kannappa Palaniappan exchanged the agreement at Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) in Visakhapatnam of coastal Andhra Pradesh.

EyeROV will use the fund to develop an underwater drone or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can monitor large ranges not achieved till now. This system will be capable of deep-sea search of lost objects and can also neutralize objects of dangerous nature.

DTDF, under DRDO, spearheads endeavours under the 2014-launched ‘Make in India’ program that envisages the country’s transformation into a global hub for design and innovation. DRDO, through its TDF (Technology Development Fund) scheme, has sanctioned more than 75 projects of national importance to various industries, particularly start-ups and SMEs to take up development of new technologies and products geared towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The ceremony was attended by NSTL Director Dr Abraham Varughese and top officials of DRDO-NSTL.

Palaniappan, while describing the contract as a milestone for the 2017-founded EyeROV, said the funds can bring in “revolutionary changes” in underwater drone technology. “We feel proud to be associated with the country’s defence sector,” he added.

College-mates Johns T Mathai and Palaniappan co-founded the company that focuses on providing safer and more efficient inspections using robotics and artificial intelligence. Functioning from the Kerala Technology Innovation Zone at suburban Kalamassery, EyeROV sells indigenously-developed ROVs to defense, research and disaster management organizations and provides robot-enabled underwater inspection services to dams, bridges, oil and gas, ports and shipping sectors.

EyeROV TUNA, which is the company’s flagship vehicle, is being used by DRDO labs, Indian Coast Guard and CSIR-SERC, among others. EyeROV has completed more than 100 underwater inspection projects across the country for BPCL, Tata, Indian Railways, Adani, NHDC and KNNL.

The company, funded by GAIL, K Chittilappilly Trust (V-guard) and Entrepreneurship Development Centre, has to its credit EyeROV iBOAT Alpha which is an unmanned surface vehicle that can navigate autonomously above the surface of the water and collect various data such as water depth and environment parameters. It is a safe and environment-friendly solution compared to diesel boat-based solutions.

KSUM is the Kerala government’s nodal agency established in 2006 for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.