Drone manufacturer ideaForge Technology and Murugappa Group’s industrial ceramics maker Carborundum Universal Ltd (CUMI) will jointly develop products to make drones lighter, stronger and more durable.

In a joint release on Thursday, the companies announced that they would develop the drones through cutting-edge nanomaterial-reinforced composite parts such as graphene-reinforced polymers. 

These materials offer several improvements in physical properties over standard composite materials, including higher mechanical strength, better electrical conductivity, superior fire retardancy and higher resistance to moisture and gases. These materials hold the promise of transforming structural parts for aerospace applications.

ideaForge has an in-house product development centre to design, develop, engineer, and manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It has the largest operational deployment of indigenous UAVs across India. 

Sunil Jha, ideaForge’s Senior Director of Engineering, said, “The use of nanomaterial reinforced composites in drones offer several exciting possibilities such as higher specific modulus or strength and is likely to shape the future of airframe and related structural components of drones.” Jha added that CUMI has done some pioneering and innovative work in material science. 

CUMI’s facility develops composite technology for UAVs, including CFRP tubes, panels, landing gears, and customised composite structural parts for drones. 

CUMI’s Head of Marketing, Subbu Venkatachalam, while speaking about the collaboration with IdeaForge Technology, said, “IdeaForge has done pioneering work in advancing drone technologies and building its position as the leader in the Indian unmanned aerial vehicles market.” 

He expressed his confidence in their expertise in materials and belief that this partnership will bring some significant synergies and shape the next generation of drone technologies.