Team Terneagle from Punjab Engineering College emerged as the winner of Dassault Systèmes’ first-ever virtual hackathon in India on drones and UAVs- Drone-a-thon: Propelling Sustainability. Team Terneagle will recieve a cash prize, access to Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform and brand applications, and mentorship from the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab.

The winner was chosen from the top five identified teams based on their idea pitch presentations on themes like agriculture, city, healthcare and defense to the honorable jury. These teams are Terneagle, Kisan Mitra, Agro-Raptor, Las-Innovation & Pegasus. The jury panel was comprised of Piyush Srivastav- Chief, Natural Resource Divison, Tata Steel ; Steven Woolley, CTO, EXICOM ; Abhishek Burman, CEO, General Aeronautics ; A.K. Ghosh, Professor, IIT Kanpur ; S. Sridhar, Addl. General Manager HAL India ; and Frederic Vacher, Director, 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, Dassault Systèmes. Along with Team Terneagle the other top teams AgroRaptor and Pegasus also got an opportunity to present at the 3DEXPERIENCE Conference 2020 India.

Team Terneagle addressed the challenge of delivering parcels by e-commerce companies from the delivery center to customers using drones to reduce delivery time and safety aspects of delivery. The drones designed by Team Terneagle can be used in consumer goods delivery, postal deliveries, food deliveries, healthcare-medical deliveries and even in disaster management. The major aspect of their design is the ability to transform between quadcopter mode and glider mode. Quadcopter mode will take the drone to the desired height while the glider mode will help the drone to travel at high altitudes at high speed. The drone features vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities, large cargo space, GPS return to home, anti-collison light ID plate, LED plates, RFID and SIM/No Permission No Takeoff (NPNT) safety features. With capabilities to function in full autonomous mode, VTOL capabilities, quick flight speed and large range, it can be easily used for multiple applications when it meets regulatory standards. This design and Team Terneagle will be mentored by the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab network worldwide.

The nationwide ‘Drone-a-thon: Propelling Sustainability’ hackathon received over 440 entries; of which the 21 best ideas were selected for screening. Further to the screening, the top 10 teams got a chance to design, model and simulate their drones and UAVs concepts in real time with access to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform along with training and guidance from 3DEXPERIENCE Edu and 3DEXPERIENCE Lab mentors. Further, the designs were validated on parameters like sizing, aerodynamic, aeroelastic, structual form, propulsion, stability, control, electronics and fabrication analysis. The juries considered criteria like innovation in design and working model of the drones, practicality, digital designs, systems engineering, aesthetics and futuristic design and manufacturability in the Indian context with available local raw materials and components.

Drone-a-thon: Propelling Sustainability provided a platform to inspire young minds to ideate, create futuristic drones and UAVs in India that can be manufactured locally to help farming and agriculture, city planning and surveillance, provide healthcare facilities and medical supplies in remote areas and help defence establishments in the country.