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Product Description
Launched with a vision to create the ecosystem for drone innovations, Pluto is the perfect DIY nano-drone platform for beginners. The DIY feature lets users build and learn drones hands on. It is insanely robust and can sustain lots of crashes – so beginners can make mistakes without having to worry.
To avoid the hassle of carrying an external joystick, Pluto is controlled by a simple smartphone app – Pluto Controller. The user-friendly app, available on Playstore and App Store, allows for customised user-specific flying experience and troubleshooting.
Pluto’s flight controller PCB Primus V3R is designed and manufactured in India, thereby assuring quality. The board is equipped with 10 DoF sensors including Accelerometer, a Magnetometer, a Barometer and a Gyroscope. Armed with the Magis 1.0 firmware, it provides for extremely stable and customisable flight experience.
Magis 1.0 is open source firmware that can be easily customised and programmed with Cygnus – a free license available IDE packed with easy APIs. For those looking to graduate to next level, Cygnus and Pluto offer the perfect platform to deploy your ideas on the drone.
With these features, Pluto is used as a prototyping platform by college students, STEM learning platform by school students and perfect hobby flying drone by enthusiasts.
Overall, with its DIY Format, durability and open-sourced firmware, Pluto can be used as a platform to learn and experiment about drones and understand them. College students also often use it for their projects and school students use it as a STEM learning toy.
Think Drones, Think Drona
Drona Aviation is an IIT-Bombay based startup with a vision to foster Drone Innovation in India. They intend to do this by building a sustainable ecosystem for drone usage and drone pilots in India. The first step towards this is to raise awareness about drones among Indians and to make it known how many benefits and utilities Drone Technology brings to the table. They do this by educating budding drone enthusiasts about Drones and the several possibilities made available through drones. Their first product, Pluto helps them achieve this. As a DIY nano-drone based on open-source firmware, it provides the perfect platform for beginners as well as enthusiasts and developers to learn about and experiment with drones.
Durable
Pluto is one of the most durable Nano-Drones in the market and it can withstand a lot of crashes from extreme heights and angles. This means that the pilot can fly Pluto with freedom and not have to worry about damaging Pluto and incurring expenses to repair the product.
Crashing a drone is an inevitable part of drone ownership but it can be an expensive affair. Pluto’s durability allows the pilot to crash it and not get penalised for it with a hefty repair fee, instead encouraging them to fly it with more confidence and experience a Drone’s true flight capability.
DIY
Pluto comes in the form of a DIY Platform, encouraging a tinkering curiosity among its users to learn about the different parts that go into the drone and enabling them to troubleshoot any issues on their own. Every single part is replaceable at a very affordable price making Pluto the perfect drone to learn how to fly drones, so that the pilot is ready to move on to bigger more expensive options when they want to, offering a cost-effective solution for beginners.
Smartphone-Controlled
Pluto can be controlled via Smartphone. The Pluto Controller App has been developed for Android as well as iOS powered devices.
It features a user-friendly UI that offers the pilot several options in terms of flight mode, sensitivity, calibration and TRIM. This is to avoid the hassle of a physical controller, so that anyone with a smartphone can fly it simply by launching their app whenever they want with utmost mobility.
Of course, the app does feature the option for external joysticks for those that seek the thrill of manual controls with a full fledged controller.
Learn to Fly
Pluto is the perfect platform for learning how to fly drones. Modern Drones equipped with advanced cameras are expensive to purchase and crashing them can be a painful affair.
Instead, beginners who seek to buy such drones may opt to purchase Pluto and learn how to fly and control it as a stepping stone towards the bigger drones.
Its user-friendly app controls and durable design allow beginners to understand all the controls involved in piloting a drone and get used to them without worrying about any repair charges or damaged parts.
Build. Understand. Experiment.
Pluto’s DIY Format encourages a tinkering curiosity among its buyers that enables them to understand the function of each and every part of the drone, arming them with the knowledge and ability to experiment, diagnose and troubleshoot the drone on their own.
Each and every single part is replaceable at very affordable rates, making it an extremely cost-effective product that encourages confidence and freedom to learn and understand.
The drone is also based on Primus V3R flight control system, powered by Cygnus IDE which is an open-sourced IDE. Developers and coders with basic knowledge on C++ can experiment further and try to achieve unique flight results. Pluto can also be visually modified to suit the aesthetic tastes of the pilot.
About the Startup
Apurva Godbole, CEO
Apurva, one of the co-founders, is an IIT Bombay alumnus who graduated with B. Tech in Civil Engineering in 2008. He further worked with Credit Suisse in Mumbai for two years and in Hong Kong for two and a half years in Investment Banking Division. His last designation in Credit Suisse Hong Kong was Assistant Vice President. He heads the business side of Drona Aviation.
Dinesh Sain, CFO
Dinesh is an IIT Bombay alumnus. He graduated with a B. Tech. in Aerospace Engineering in 2014. He has significant experience in building fixed wing planes and RC hovercraft and has won awards in competitions across India. These include Trailblazer – Quarx, BITS Goa; Blitzkreig – Techfest, IIT Bombay and Zephyr, Aero Dept., IIT Bombay among others. Perseverance and sticking to the problem until it is solved are two of his important strengths. He is also our pilot.
Prasanna Shevare, CTO
Prasanna, one of the co-founders, is researcher from IIT Bombay in Aerospace Department. He graduated with a B. Tech. in Instrumentation Engineering from VIT Vellore. He has an extensive experience in building drones, planes as well as underwater gliders and has won awards in competitions world over. These include International competition for underwater gliders, Madrid, Spain; IMAV, Toulhouse, France and MICAV, DRDO, Bangalore among others. He is the brain behind the entire technology idea of Drona Aviation. His strengths include debugging and nothing gives him more pleasure than making things work.
Describe your products in three words.
Drone For Everyone
How did you come up with the idea for this product?
We started out trying different drone types as our primary product but throughout the course of it, we realised that people in India want to learn about drones, more than anything because they do not have the knowledge or awareness about Drone Technology in general. So we decided to shift our focus to conducting Drone Workshops. However, for these workshops we needed to provide a product that enabled a hands-on learning experience. And it was because of this that we came up with Pluto. By giving everyone a chance to build the drone themselves using a DIY kit, it enhances their understanding of the drone as well as makes the entire experience more enjoyable and intuitive.
What makes your product special?
What makes Pluto so special is that it is an inclusive product. It enables practically everyone to build and fly their own drone. Anyone and everyone who buys a Pluto Kit will be able to build and fly it, understand drones and their technology in the process. There are generally a lot of people who do not fly drones with the fear of crashing it or it being very hard for them to fly drones. Pluto has none of these issues. It is controlled via an intuitive smartphone app which is easy to understand. It is extremely durable and can survive a lot of crashes. The fact that it has 4 different sensors enabling stable flight is a bonus. Pluto is also a drone that encourages a pilot’s curiosity to tinker and experiment with it. It’s DIY format and Open-Source platform provide the perfect opportunity for creativity and improvisation, and a lot of our customers have loved this part of it.
What has been the best part of your experience?
The best part of our experience has been to watch our customers come up to us and talk about their own experience flying Pluto. Nearly every single customer we have sold Pluto to has absolutely enjoyed flying it and every time we attend events and exhibitions where Pluto is demonstrated, people seem to love the entire idea of it and our initiative to inculcate drone technology into the lives of Indians and nothing makes us happier than seeing people respond to the work we are doing in such an enthusiastic manner.
Programmable: C++ based api structure makes it extremely easy to program (all codes open sourced)
Fly with smartphone – start with simple alt hold + motion control mode and graduate to more difficult acrobatic flying levels
Designed in iit bombay & made in india, it is extremely robust and can sustain multiple crashes
Open-source learning content & drone projects to get you started; Batteries Required: Yes; Color: Black; Recommended Age: Minimum 12 years; Included Items: 1 Nano drone kit; Material: Nylon-6; Dimensions: 16×16 Cms; Safety Warnings: Small parts included to be kept out of reach of infants
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