Drone Dude Of Kerala

TNIE talks to Francis Rohan John, a 27-year-old from Kochi, whose love for motors and rotors has seen him walk the defence corridors of India to assist the forces in augmenting their drone warfare capabilities

- RONNIE KURIAKOSE

When Francis Rohan John built his first drone in college, it barely got off the ground.

“I had spent weeks researching components, ordered them from China after saving up enough pocket money, and then, with the help of friends, built a drone. Sadly, it didn’t take off. Instead, it kept crashing. A lot,” he recalls.

The repeated failures, however, did not dampen the 27-year-old’s spirit. If anything, they only strengthened his resolve. Since childhood, Francis has always been curious about how things worked, and, in this particular case, why they didn’t.

“My parents used to quip that when I was a child, I was always around circuit boards. This is, of course, a slight exaggeration on their part, but the fact remains: I was fascinated by the world of electronics — how the assembly of seemingly ordinary, immaterial pieces can create wonders,” says the youngster from Kochi.

First drone

If it was a remote-controlled helicopter that he couldn’t get that catapulted Francis into the world of motors and rotors, his inherent curiosity came of age and found direction during his time at Viswajyothi College of Engineering and Technology in Muvattupuzha.

“It was here, in 2017, that I first began tinkering with drones. It happened almost nonchalantly. Though drones and their manufacture were a wayward departure from our syllabus, it still felt like a natural extension of our domain: electronics. So, my friends and I began building one,” Francis recalls.

They imported the individual electronic components from China and started putting them together. “Our drone only had a few basic parts: the frame, motors, propellers, the control board and remote control system. It cost only ₹12,000 then — a relatively small amount compared to how much drones cost today,” he says.