Latest / EU-Startups Podcast / Building a Defence Against Drones

Transcript

Building a Defence Against Drones · EU-Startups Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 0: You are now listening
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: to the EU Startups Podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 0: Hello, and welcome to this episode of The EU Startup's podcast.
• 0:15
  Speaker 0: as always I'm your host and editor Dave Senegarcia.
• 0:19
  Speaker 0: Today we're doing a bit of special episodes.
• 0:22
  Speaker 0: Now This is forming part our A-Five X conference series that we filmed in Singapore last week.
• 0:27
  Speaker 0: Unfortunately had to leave the conference early And as such We missed the defense tech hackathon but the conference was sponsoring.
• 0:34
  Speaker 0: In that light, we want to highlight the two main winners of The Hackathon.
• 0:42
  Speaker 0: That is the company that had three months to develop their technology, specifically what we're chatting today.
• 0:47
  Speaker 0: The company's name is Maelstrom and we were able to chat through there project lead by Keshe over what they are developing which a sort of anti-drone swarm technology in how it developed over these three months with future applications could be.
• 1:10
  Speaker 0: Hello, Vykesh and welcome to the EU Starves podcast.
• 1:13
  Speaker 0: It's a pleasure to have you here with us today.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Hi David I'm Vykech actually the project of our male response.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: nice to meet you.
• 1:21
  Speaker 0: Yes, thank you very much.
• 1:24
  Speaker 0: This is hopefully going to be an interesting episode.
• 1:26
  Speaker 0: it's a bit shorter than we normally do but It's our attempt to kind of get the chat with The finalists and winners Of the defense like hackathon again A little bit of idea on the tail end everything that happened at the fifex conference.
• 1:39
  Speaker 0: as I mentioned before We did already have a chance To chat with the organizers of the conference With founders investors ever there?
• 1:47
  Speaker 0: But this is kind of also an interesting side of everything that went on the conference.
• 1:51
  Speaker 0: Unfortunately, we weren't there to film it but I'm excited to chat about today with you.
• 1:55
  Speaker 0: so before we get into the meat of questions if he just maybe give me a little bit background said your project lead.
• 2:01
  Speaker 0: That's great.
• 2:01
  Speaker 0: Give me more background as who are and what Maelstrom Your company does.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: So I am by guest.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: I mentioned in my project meet up Nelson.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Our team actually focuses on creating an internet interceptor for Singapore defense.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: that has done And let me decorate about me, I'm actually a mechanical engineer currently studying in National University of Singapore.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Together with my project mates we do have people from all walks of life.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: We also have senior students, we have SET students and someone serving the national service here So you can get together to actually develop our chat profile.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: We came together to actually develop a jet propulsion-based synthetic interceptor.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: It is something that not many, in fact only one in the entire hackathon focused on a jet hotel interceptor.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Everyone else were doing podcopter based or electric interceptors Meanwhile The One and Only Conventional Interceptor.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: or whether micro missile technology won the grand prize in the three month stretch Yes.
• 3:19
  Speaker 0: Okay, so walk me through then how this all kind of progressed.
• 3:23
  Speaker 0: and did the idea already exist before?
• 3:26
  Speaker 0: The three-month span that you had to develop a project or was it something that just came into your brainstorming?
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: That's actually maybe I guess a clarify question.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: This is in a three month strike right.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Unfortunately we did not have the privilege the other three months team because we did not have three months.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: In fact, we joined this hackathon late.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: So in the three months they had about fourteen weeks right?
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Meanwhile it started with five weeks ago.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: We didn't even start at five weeks before the hackathons.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: and you know I approached the director of the founder of GVL of NUSNR.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: he said that yeah I said that you're interested in this, but unfortunately... You have to start late.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: And now it's like no worries at all!
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: We say okay sure.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Then the new one is to find an alternative.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: So how would they know?
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Sure..I mean i have a few friends who are interested in structures.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I had some friend who was interested in softwares.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: It's like Avengers and Zendall right so as pulling people here.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: then eventually We formed the team of five and we pushed on for the next five weeks.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Our mentors were also very ambitious, there's no way you can make a total side of physical contact even with lower expectations.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: but I told my team that they should try our best to add at least demonstration level prototype.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: that will not be able to do that propulsion, but it would still be able show finacturators and also your optics just showing the charges right?
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: And then we did.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Then we
• 5:30
  Speaker 0: won't!
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: So let's wrap up for Ration and how.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: eventually from start-to end... For you.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: second part of a question was this you know, a normal idea and since this idea has already been developed inside.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: This idea have been here for hundreds of years but not... Not the single person that decided to take these ideas.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But make it something that is easily manufacturable And cheap Which was big issue right?
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: You know in long drawn wars, long-drawn conflicts you must be able to produce to manufacture such ammunition at scale, otherwise your resources are going to be depleted fast.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: So that's what our idea of VINU demands is about.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: It really pushes on the idea in a fast-speed cheap manufacturing and design itself.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: it also something there some normal features which I'll get to wait for.
• 6:39
  Speaker 0: Okay, so then at the end of three months what did you turn it exactly like if physically speaking?
• 6:46
  Speaker 0: What was that that you presented to the judges?
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: So At The End Of The Primal Strike Movie Actually Produced a physical prototype That Is Entirely Trudy-Pincer Internally That Electronics All Work.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: These Are All Operational Level Electronics Meaning To Say None of it is unsexual.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: We say that electronics would be off this level, but we put a random electronic... All of it was operational.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: The only thing they could not put operationally Was the warhead.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: A fragmentation in Warhead which as well as propulsion will take With two things are heavily regulated in Singapore.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: So we had to navigate through these bureaucracies and the end state is a single operational post site that, you know... The fins are movable You can see the fins moving or optics moving And everything works in tandem.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: so if you, let's say you shine your torchlight it will be able fly or explode.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: However this something with the chargers was very against.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: because what do you mean, this electronic project is something that my secondary school student can do.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: What differentiated us all during the cookbook slide?
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: One of my team members, a propulsion engineer who's in the Solomon, he actually came up with a full twenty-four page technical documentation on all the computational fluids dynamic.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: we came out if all the aerodynamics and specifications are to be ratio specific empowers, you know all the rocket science essentially and which is really important because are we just saying words or our means to justify invading outwards with proper proofs.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: So that's what stood up from the rest of it.
• 9:01
  Speaker 0: so then speaking in kind Simple terms, what is the real world application to this?
• 9:07
  Speaker 0: What is a situation where you see
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: This
• 9:10
  Speaker 0: technology being used.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: So I mean in a defense ecosystem because behind it's a defense sector.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: in a defensive ecosystem like There are interceptors that are new chief You know sub one thousand dollar the sectors.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: they will take down no load space.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: and then we have other end Expensive missiles.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Wow Very big millions of dollars.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: but they take down very high level threats or into ICBM threats, interceptor threat.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: But then there's a small bit in medical system that is not exactly addressed by this expensive missiles and it too powerful for the cheap interceptors to take on them.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: so these particular threat profiles Are there results, are the interceptors out there in that industry?
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: That can tackle this.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: And upon analysis and upon market research we realize they're... But these particular interceptors have been very expensive for a threat level you were trying to take down.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: So if your threat is about twenty thousand dollars or fifty thousand dollars cost-wise it does not match.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Eventually, you will not be able to sustain it
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: accordingly.".
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: So our investor is actually an eight thousand dollar operational micro missile that can take down drones on the drone swarms of high speed missiles.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: or sorry these would be edited right?
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: Don't
• 11:00
  Speaker 0: worry!
• 11:01
  Speaker 0: You go ahead and explain
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: our units.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Our microphone is also on eight thousand dollars but you'll be able to take down high speed drones and also drone swamps.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: so one big thing that differentiates us it's the speed, no never interceptors.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: they can travel about two to three hundred kilometers per hour.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Our technology at one thousand kilometer per hour.
• 11:33
  Speaker 0: How can you be sure it's so cheap?
• 11:36
  Speaker 0: when?
• 11:36
  Speaker 0: You're saying.
• 11:37
  Speaker 0: You didn't have the warhead The fuel gauge.
• 11:40
  Speaker 0: like.
• 11:40
  Speaker 0: these are all expenses that I've to come in.
• 11:42
  Speaker 0: and then comes a fact That if your mass producing right where I'm actually want make more than one, but cost will Undoubtedly go up how-how Can you be so sure that that margin is so different?
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: So this eight thousand dollar has his price breakdown.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: big portion of it goes their propulsion and or based on market research, this is all factual.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: This is not that there's random numbers.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: so about three thousand dollars goes to propulsion and for the water it's about a thousand dollars.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: The rest of the money is actually allocated into the avionics the materials And also the optic systems.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah So in terms of manufacturing right even the operational technology will be implemented.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: So, because we are leveraging on advanced additive manufacturing.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: We are able to bring that cost down drastically.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Okay
• 12:44
  Speaker 0: and then moving forward to the actual funding cuz you won I think my notes right ten thousand Singaporean dollars which rough estimates around seven thousand euros.
• 12:57
  Speaker 0: What do you want use this funding for?
• 12:59
  Speaker 0: is it going to be an expanding?
• 13:01
  Speaker 0: You know, you're offering more research.
• 13:04
  Speaker 0: I imagine you want to try and work to build this into what is an actual company?
• 13:08
  Speaker 0: An actual startup?
• 13:09
  Speaker 0: right.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: so of course that it's the goal eventually incubate in a possible venture.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Right now if we were up even to ask me let say with the ten thousand We will not be able to accurately give you our estimate as to what we would do this thing too because Although we do have plans to incubate the space and time complexities between five of us, it doesn't really match.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: We may not be able to assume this as a possible venture but there are still some talks going through.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: with annual airs and stuff It might possibly not be an adventure or something bigger that even all five of us work on it together, but not being stuck down by
• 14:09
  Speaker 0: issues like
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: experimental issues.
• 14:14
  Speaker 0: Okay well sounds exciting.
• 14:16
  Speaker 0: thank you Vykesh for coming on.
• 14:18
  Speaker 0: It's been a pleasure to have you.
• 14:19
  Speaker 0: I'm happy we were able be able to chat with the hackathon winner and yeah best of luck.
• 14:26
  Speaker 0: Thank You very much
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Bye.