Can you brief us about Zuppa and its journey since its inception?
The guiding principals for Zuppa in its journey since inception have been globally contemporary technology, products and innovation. Zuppa has achieved this time and again by developing cutting edge products across various industries from Automobiles to unmanned systems for Defence.
As India’s only fully Aatmnirbhar developer and manufacturer of autopilots for drones Zuppa is leading India’s evolution as a global drone hub by manufacturing drones and autopilots that rival global peers like DJI , Parrot , Autel , Skydio to name a few .
What are the various products and services Zuppa is offering civil and defense sectors?
Having developed a globally unique technology of Distributed Parallel Control computing in real time Zuppa has applied it to produce 3 motherboards for Unmanned Systems, Vision Guidance and IoT.
These mother boards are at the heart of every product developed and manufactured by Zuppa or its partners and joint ventures.
Zuppa is all set to launch Ajeet Mini India’s first commercial off the shelf drone to rival the global brands like DJI.
Zuppa’s vision guidance motherboard Drishya is deployed in products like the See Through Armor (STA) and the 360 deg visual drone radar as a counter drone system with leading defence technology organizations like DRDO, ADB to name a few .Zuppa’s IOT motherboard EDGE has been deployed in over 10,000 IoT and Vehicle Telematics products that are currently being used by customers across India.
What are the most innovative projects Zuppa is currently working on? What kind of futuristic products can be expected from Zuppa in the following 5-10 years?
Zuppa is working across multiple projects in both the civilian and Defence space on a range of products covering various
a. Drones applications like surveillance, loitering munitions, heavy lift
b. Unmanned ground systems
c. Vision guidance system
d. Internet of Military Things
Zuppa is in the process of expanding applications for its motherboards across industries in the areas of ADAS, Drones, IoT and connected mobility and foresees a strong demand for them given its unique position as a core computing Technology Company in 5th Generation electronics.
With the number of drones flying in the sky growing rapidly, how do we Keep Indian airspace safe and secure?
The Drone regulations already have segregated Airspace along both altitude and Radial distance from key assets into green, yellow and red zones.
All applications falling within the green zones i.e. 200 ft. within 8-12 km from airport perimeter and 400 ft in all other green zones can easily be tracked and monitored by use of GSM tracking systems while for all other applications involving operation of drones in yellow and red zones could have more stringent UTM requirements based on ADS B protocols.
How do you think Indian drone manufacturers can reach the benchmarks set by DJI? Will they ever be able overthrow the DJI to become the new industry leaders?
Zuppa’s Ajeet Mini Drone is specifically developed with DJI drones as a benchmark. Ajeet’s performance in terms of ease of operation is already achieved with functionality planned to be incorporated as an evolutionary process
An interesting point to be noted is the fact that till 2014 the year when drones were banned in India the gap between the Indian drone manufacturers and DJI was not significant. The Indian Drone ban of 7-8 years has set back the domestic drone industry significantly, but now with the positive support from the government by way incentives and policy the industry is all set grow exponentially to ensure the countries emergence as a global drone hub.
Indian companies have the potential and the opportunity to surpass companies like DJI given the strong projected growth of the global drone industry and the negative sentiment towards China.
What advice would you like to give to the entrepreneurs tied to the budding drone companies?
The Drone industry of today is filled with opportunities for exponential growth all the way from Electronics/ component manufacturing to drone data analytics. Growth opportunities are there for the taking for all types of skill sets and talents. Hence it is very critical to understand your sweet spot and choose your opportunity wisely to leverage this opportunity.
