Could you brief our readers about Roter Group of Companies and your role in leading it?
Roter group of companies is an Indian-grown constellation of seven global companies focusing on various verticals such as hardware, software and services majorly in the surveying and mapping industry. Myself the 3rd Generation entrepreneur and the chairman of the group visions to provide the best of providing the best of the technology to the end user, ‘the surveyor’, be it Drone, Laser scanners, Ground Penetration Radar or more, so that he becomes more efficient and effective in designing and developing New India.
Tell us about your experience in the field of UAVs and what were your fields of expertise before venturing into UAVs?
A company that started with manufacturing of drawing and mathematical tools in 1936 then went on to producing surveying equipment in 1978 from where we ventured into more niche products such as LiDAR, Surveillance solutions and systems, Photogrammetry, Ground Penetrating Radar and now UAV’s. We very recently opened India’s largest drone factory because of which we were able to bring down the manufacturing cost of our drones and make them more affordable and help the government achieve its vision of “Make in India”
UAVs in general are either fixed wings or multi rotors. Is there any specific reason for choosing the Fixed Wings over the other designs?
Since, we are primarily mappers, we have worked with both multi rotors and fixed wings and after analysing data and experience, we were able to comprehend that a fixed wing UAV is a much safer and efficient than other designs. A multi rotor, as the name suggests, has multiple motors attached to it which make it more unstable platform because of the vibrations from the motors whereas a fixed wing is a very stable platform which is able to capture more accurate data and imagery. The crash ratio in a multi rotor UAV is much higher than a fixed wing as even if one motor fails, the entire UAV will crash.
The weights of these multiple motors on a drone decreases its speed. A fixed wing UAV has more speed and gliding ability because of which it covers a far more distance and area and is a much safer option.
Would you be expanding your product lines by adding other categories of unmanned offerings?
We at Roter, have always believed and worked towards finding and developing new technologies. There is no greater investment than the one which helps in making our nation great. Currently, we are venturing into surveillance drones for military and civil security application. We will adding be more products and solutions to our portfolio in the upcoming years and you will have to look out for upcoming announcements on the same.
How do you see India as an upcoming market? Which market according to you is the best; Defence or Civilian?
The dynamics of geopolitics of the world are rapidly changing and India is one the most crucial strategic locations in the world. With the need of the moment, The Government of India is aggressively investing in indigenous defence production and manufacturing at the moment, hence, the new and upcoming market for India is the Defence sector but civilian usage of drones will be the ruling market in the coming years.
Where do you see Roter Group of Companies in the next five or ten years in the Indian market?
Roter group of companies will still be providing “Precision By Tradition” in the next five to ten to how many years as the company values are as such that they need not change itself with them but be relevant throughout the years. In the next 10 years, Roter will be on bringing niche technology to India and is aiming at a 100% Indian manufacturing and processing content of the same.
Can you give us some valuable suggestions for the Drone-prenuers and the Drone pilots?
To all the Drone-prenuers out there, “Do not Re-invent the wheel.” We have so much information and technology available in the world today but we often forget that and get stuck on building everything from scratch. We should be investing our time and energy in solving problems and providing solutions. On some days, it’s better to work smarter than harder and vice versa. It’s important to maintain the balance between the two.
Short Bio
A Third Generation Entrepreneur in THE ROTER GROUP OF INDUSTRIES Estd 1936. Surveyor, Manufacturer, Academician, Researcher, philanthropist, who worked for the development of Industries in Uttarakhand. Identified and developed various industries Clusters under UNIDO & Government of India program.
Worked for India’s first Land Record Digitizing work in the Land Survey Departments along with Commissioners in Andhra and Karnataka states. Introduced modern surveying systems and customized software(s) for first handheld land information system (LIS).
Engaged in research and development of 3D LiDAR instruments with Franhaufer Research Institute, Germany for state-of-the-art sensors in the field of Pavement & Clearance Profile scanning and UAV scanning, GPR, UAV/Drones. Engaged in the design and development of professional grade UAV/ Drone for large scale mapping since 2015 and now working on military grade stealth drones.
He can be reached at info@apiroter.com
