Qualcomm-Backed ideaForge brings its SWITCH and NETRA V4 UAV Platforms to the U.S. Market
Built on a strong foundation of interdisciplinary engineering, ideaForge, a global leader in UAV technology, will mark its entry into the United States market by demonstrating its world-class UAVs at the Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas on September 6-8.
“We are excited to welcome our partners, prospects, and customers in Las Vegas to explore our UAVs, including the all-terrain Dominator SWITCH UAV and the NETRA V4,” said Ankit Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, ideaForge. “Our customers have flown more than 260,000 missions with ideaForge drones, with one ideaForge drone taking off every six minutes for a security and mapping missions across military, government, and business uses. We are thrilled to now bring our proven technology to the US market and set shop here, and to grow our support base along with our partners.”
Founded in 2007 by IIT Bombay alumni Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, Ashish Bhat, and Vipul Joshi, ideaForge continues to expand globally within the security operations segment as the first India-based organisation to indigenously develop and manufacture Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs. In addition to the US, ideaForge has also expanded beyond India to Oman, Nigeria, and Bhutan.
Why ideaForge?
Understanding the needs of varying terrain and environmental conditions thoroughly, ideaForge portable VTOL UAVs provide customers complete freedom of operation in whichever terrain the systems are deployed. ideaForge manufactures world-class drones under several product categories – RYNO, Q Series, NETRA Series, NINJA, and the SWITCH. While the RYNO, Q Series, NETRA Series, and the NINJA are credited with enormous contributions to the industry, the SWITCH UAV has also changed the dynamics of surveillance capabilities in field operations, gaining the interest of global UAV distributors and customers.
In terms of the range and flight time, ideaForge drones fare better than their counterparts all while maintaining safe operational distance above obstacles and terrain thanks to a myriad of class-leading failsafe features while in flight. ideaForge drones like the SWITCH UAV works best for long-range, extended-flight-time, and heavy duty-cycle applications with options for up to 9.3 metres range, flight time of more than 120 minutes, and a maximum launch altitude of 6,000 metres in real world conditions.
Mr. JT Von Lunen, president and founder of RMUS, a leading UAV provider in the U.S. and Canada, stated, “We look forward to testing and evaluating the SWITCH UAV VTOL system for diverse applications and use cases.”
Creating Better Products with Global Partners
Backed by investors that include Qualcomm, Infosys, Celesta Capital, and Florintree, ideaForge has also partnered with Ingram Micro, and RMUS to speed up the proliferation of UAV technology, enabling value-added resellers, partners, and system integrators to quickly meet the needs and specifications of its respective customers. In further support of its customers and partners, ideaForge maintains NDAA SEC848 compliance to help fill the vacuum of increased demand for drones made outside of China.
ideaForge not only has plans to integrate more Qualcomm chipsets in its product roadmap but is also working with Qualcomm for the use of drones in asset inspection, precision agriculture, and public safety applications.
Industry Leading Thermal Imaging Capabilities
In pursuit of providing customers the imaging capabilities they require, since 2011, ideaForge drones integrated Teledyne FLIR Boson® thermal cameras. Providing industry-leading lightweight, low-power, small size, but high-performance thermal sensors and payloads from Teledyne FLIR empowers customers to get more from their UAV systems through greater situational awareness and increased flight times.
“As the world leader in thermal imaging technology and production, Teledyne FLIR thermal cameras provide ideaForge and its customers the best mix of performance and capability required to complete the mission,” said Greg Nagler, global business development director sUAS and Asia Pacific business development OEM components, Teledyne FLIR.
To learn more, visit booth 545 at the Commercial UAV Expo in Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, and experience ideaForge and interact with its team of leading experts and its founders. Commercial UAV Expo attendees are also encouraged to see co-founder and CEO Ankit Mehta deliver an in-depth talk entitled, ‘How Can Drones Can Help Prevent the Spread of Man-Made and Natural Forest Fires?’ on September 8 at 2pm in Room 421.
