Master the art of piloting

We all have seen the small electronic devices zooming over our heads, diligently capturing our faces. Drones are the latest in a line of technological marvels of the 21st century that have been fascinating not only adults but also school children.

This summer vacation, Drona Aviation  —indigenous developers of the nano-drone — are organising the ‘Pluto Flying summer workshop’, teaching children from the age 10 to 20 years about how to fly these wonders.

Talking about the workshop, trainer Akash Parulekar says the teachings are based on nano-drones. “Big drones are expensive and it is important that we start learning with small ones. These are composed with barometric pressure sensors that help in keeping the drone in the sky even if the direction goes wrong,” says Akash.

While their earlier workshops also focused on programming and building of a drone, this one is dedicated only to flying.

“People are more interested in flying the drone than learning the pre-production of drones. Looking at this we decided to restrict this event only to flying,” says Akash.

But he is quick to add that they will soon be conducting a technical workshop in order to introduce people to the making of a drone as well.

A marketing professional, Akash asserts that with the expected growth of 127 billion in the flying drone market, employment opportunities are sure to flow.

“Drone flying is not all about playing, it has an increasing market. Above all, drone photography is taking shape in India, which requires a lot of training, as it is not easy to handle the tool in air. Therefore, it is good to introduce this activity in education curriculum,” says the 23-year-old.

Giving more insight into drone flying, the trainer says that anyone can fly a drone, but the one who plays online games are most comfortable with this tool. Thus, making it easy for them to adapt.

“To master this art one has to practice. Rather than buying expensive drones from abroad and struggling to find parts once damaged, participants are advised to buy basic drones,” advises Akash.

Aspiring to take this venture across the country, Akash confirms that they will be organising workshops with more technical aspects.

“Participants will not be introduced to flying drone with Virtual Reality glasses as of now because that requires more focus. But our next workshop will have VR camera training as well,” he smiles, adding,“We plan to take these drone workshops to other parts of the city as well. So far we have roped in Gujarat and Bangalore.”