A student team from the Institute of Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Management (IITRAM), Ahmedabad, has achieved a significant milestone by winning a prize money of ₹2.00 lakh in ROBOFEST–GUJARAT 5.0, one of India’s largest robotics competitions. The grant has been awarded under the “Aerial Minefield Navigation Challenge”, organized by the Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUJCOST), Gandhinagar.
The project has successfully progressed from Level II (Proof of Concept) to Level III (Prototype), as per the official communication from GUJCOST. This selection recognizes the technical merit, innovation, and practical relevance of the proposed autonomous aerial system designed for operation in hazardous and GPS-denied environments.
The project focuses on the development of an autonomous multi-UAV system capable of safe navigation, hazard detection, and mission coordination in minefield-like scenarios. The system integrates onboard sensing, embedded intelligence, and inter-drone coordination to reduce dependence on external infrastructure, thereby enhancing robustness and operational reliability.
The student team comprises Husain Lokhandwala, Falgun Baria, Adidev Shah, and Dhyan Patel, all undergraduate students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, enrolled in the Minor in Drone Technology program at IITRAM. The project is guided by Dr. Ajit Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IITRAM.
Director General of IITRAM, Prof. P.K. Jain while congratulating the team and faculty mentor said, “This achievement highlights IITRAM’s growing emphasis on hands-on learning, interdisciplinary research, and student-driven innovation in emerging areas such as drones, robotics, and autonomous systems.”