Ahead of the Swalambhan 2023, Tardid is gearing up to make a mark with a remarkable lineup of cutting-edge innovations.
“In the ever-evolving landscape of defence technology, Tardid is set to redefine the future with groundbreaking advancements that promise to elevate efficiency, precision, and awareness across land, water, and air domains. Join us on this exciting journey as we unveil our latest innovations and share our vision for a brighter and more secure future,” Aastha Verma, Chief Operating Officer, Tardid Technologies Private Limited., tells Financial Express Online ahead of second edition of the Indian Navy’s Naval Innovation and Indigenisation (NIIO) Seminar, ‘Swavlamban 2023.
Following are excerpts from an interaction with Aastha, COO, Tradid Technologies Limited:
Digital Twins with AI & ML is believed to transform the future of the industry. What are your comments on this?
Digital Twins combined with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) indeed have the potential to transform various industries in significant ways. It is poised to transform industries by providing real-time insights, Decision Making, enabling predictive capabilities, optimizing operations, Simulating & Testing Scenarios, Remote Monitoring & Control, Continuous Learning and Data Integration.
While the potential benefits are vast, there are also challenges, including data privacy, security, and the need for highly skilled personnel to develop and maintain these systems. However, it’s important to address challenges and ensure responsible and ethical use of these technologies as they continue to evolve.
How far is your company on its Digital Twin journey?
In the realm of Digital Twins, Tardid stands out as a prominent leader. According to the latest Gartner report on Emerging Technology: Tech Innovators for Digital Twins – IT Providers, Tardid holds a distinguished position among the top 8 companies globally offering this service. Notably, it is the sole Indian company in this field. What sets Tardid apart is its unique Digital Twin, which seamlessly integrates physics and machine learning. Gartner’s recognition of Tardid’s Brainbox Digital Twin extends beyond conventional systems, which primarily serve as visualization tools. Tardid’s Digital Twin is distinguished by its scientific approach and its ability to proactively identify and address issues well in advance.
Does Digital Twin analysis isolate the fundamental causes of problems? How do we maintain Digital Twins Integrity?
Digital Twin analysis can be a powerful tool for identifying and understanding the fundamental causes of problems in various systems or processes. However, the extent to which it can isolate these causes depends on the quality of data, the complexity of the system, and the sophistication of the analytical techniques employed. Brainbox is a complete model driven system, which ensures that it can identify the fundamental causes before the problem actually occurs.
To maintain the Digital Twin Integrity is quite a different task. It can be done by establishing robust data governance, protecting the Digital Twin Infrastructure from cyber threats and unauthorized access, version controls, comprehensive documentation and most importantly continuously monitoring the performance and results of the Digital Twin. Conduct periodic audits to verify its integrity and alignment with the physical system. At Tardid, all measures are taken to ensure the integrity of the Digital Twin is always ensured.
What is the value proposition for the customer (How well will the product or service solve the problem)?
Brainbox’s Digital Twin, works like a vertical AI platform. It’s an AI School which can be trained as per the customer’s requirement. Brainbox can provide the complete damage prognosis to end customers. With the help of Brainbox, now the customers are better prepared and can take informed decisions backed by scientific knowledge using the Digital Twin.
You mentioned complex architectures to support Digital Twins. Is that investment a prerequisite to developing Digital Twins?
Not exactly. A Digital Twin is essentially a representation of a system or asset, much like the way human anatomy is complex. Mechanical or electromechanical assets are similarly intricate, with finite lifespans and susceptibility to wear and tear. The investment in developing a Digital Twin aims to educate the twin about its operational and functional capabilities, taking into account both internal and external factors that influence its behaviour, in a simplified manner, the complete dynamics of the system. The primary investment is directed towards comprehending the design state and how it responds to various operational and external variables. At Tardid, we have dedicated substantial time and resources to create machine learning models for these factors through a combination of numerical and empirical simulations. Interestingly, the data we generate daily is a valuable resource globally, and our Brainbox initiative is swiftly advancing into the realm of “Generative AI,” a transformative approach that is poised to revolutionize the way we design industrial assets.
How do you see the convergence of engineering and operations in support of the Digital Twin
The convergence of engineering and operations through Digital Twins represents a transformative shift in how industries approach design, production, and maintenance. It fosters collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and agility, ultimately leading to improved efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced system reliability. It leverages technology and data to create a seamless connection between the design and operational phases of a system or product’s lifecycle. As this convergence continues to evolve, organizations will need to invest in technology, talent, and processes to fully leverage the benefits of Digital Twins across their operations.
How is the Digital Twin evolving and are expectations about Digital Twin in military manufacturing changing?
The concept of the Digital Twin is continually evolving, and its applications in military manufacturing are no exception. Several factors are influencing the evolution of Digital Twins in the Defence and military sector, and expectations about their capabilities are changing accordingly.
Expectations regarding Digital Twins in military manufacturing are changing as they become more integrated into the overall Defence strategy. There is a growing expectation that Digital Twins will not only improve efficiency in manufacturing but also enhance the readiness and effectiveness of military assets throughout their lifecycle.
Tardid is working with the Indian Navy in multiple such applications using Digital Twin. Our product Brainbox SPICA (Smart Platform for Identifying Cracks & Anomalies) is being trained for checking the integrity of various Gun part components and also the different tubes & barrels used for military applications. As this journey goes forward, we will be able to increase the reliability and quality of these components and conduct various analyses. In the coming years, it will certainly help in improvement right at the design level certainly.
How has Swalabhan 2022, impacted your company and the other ecosystem players as a whole?
Swalabhan 2022 came as a platform, where likeminded companies working in the Defence sector got a chance to meet and explore collaborations. Defence as a sector is a difficult place to survive as not many companies get the due investor back-ups, which are required, hence the companies got together we were able to leverage each other’s strength, while ensuring not only we work on the vision of Make in India, but in true sense move to MADE IN INDIA, which we at Tardid will be very crucial as we all work on a common goal of Atmanirbharbharat. Today Tardid has collaborated with a few other iDEX SPRINT Winners and are jointly working to provide the nations needs in the Military segment.
Could you share how TDAC did what it did to help deep tech companies? You can be specific.
If I keep it simple, TDAC became a guiding light for companies working in deep tech and other niche areas. For the first time, as innovators, we didn’t hesitate to share the problems with the TDAC team. Led by Cmde Arun Golaya Sir and his team of mavericks like Cdr Dhankar, Cdr Rahul Verma (retd) and Lt Cdr Ishant, are always available for all the support. They are a team of problem solvers and they leave no stone unturned to ensure the product matches the requirements of the Navy and at the same time, the innovators are able to get all the help and support required.
What do you think about the Market globally opening up to Indian Startup’s, in regards to your iCert (INDUS-X) experience.
iCert (INDUS-X) is a great initiative. It has given Indian Startups visibility to the global markets. The importance of it could be felt when the Indian Startup team got a representation in the state dinner at Whitehouse. The world is getting up and taking notice. But more importantly, what this program enabled was the bilateral relationships between the industry academia partnerships across the two nations. This is just the beginning for all of us.
How are the new government initiatives creating new opportunities? And also, what are a few immediate changes you would like to tell the leadership?
These new initiatives are giving hope to young companies to foray in the market and segments which were initially thought to be available only for the bigger companies with decades of experience to back them. Today a young company can dare to dream to work in the Defence Market, having a belief that if their product is unique and required by the Défense sector, it will be inducted in the forces, provided it meets the due Military Standards. The myth of selling in Defence is tough and is slowly getting removed.
Though there have been a lot of opportunities being created, still there are a few things which the leadership should consider. To begin with, we as a country need to change our perception of milestone-based payments, we are doing R&D, working on projects/ products which have not been attempted before, hence we need to INVEST IN FAILURE. A startup should not be put under a financial burden if they are not able to succeed, provided they have done a genuine attempt in achieving the end result. Help and grow mavericks who are ready to take risks as well as put their skin in the game. Out of box thinking, mutual trust and user support are other key aspects which are needed to nurture the ecosystem.
Something which I am sure a lot of iDEX Winners faced was the documentations required for signing the contract, these needs to be simplified and digitised. The standard documents must be taken from the MCA website and not in hardcopies to begin with, it may sound a trivial thing, but when the entire country is moving towards digitization then the government initiatives like iDEX must be digitized.
If you could tell our readers what all are we going to see from Tardid at Swalamban 2023?
At Swalambhan 2023, we have exciting plans to unveil some cutting-edge innovations. Firstly, we will be showcasing the SPICA crawler, specifically designed for an in-depth assessment of gun barrel health at the micro level. In the future, this technology will enable the Indian defence sector to seamlessly integrate barrel diagnostics with an exceptionally precise fire control system, enhancing accuracy significantly.
Another groundbreaking development we are proud to introduce is our Out Board Machine (OBM). This remarkable innovation is the world’s first AI-driven electrical powertrain. Through AI-driven torque optimization, we have achieved remarkable efficiency gains in battery consumption. The OBM possesses the intelligence to gauge the boat’s heel angle, make necessary drag adjustments, and fine-tune propulsion for optimal performance.
Additionally, we aim to showcase the remarkable capabilities of Brainbox, our comprehensive awareness system. This single-window system will provide real-time awareness across land, water, and air domains, covering an impressive range of 7000 kilometres in the air, 45 kilometres on land, and 18 kilometres underwater. This level of integrated awareness is unparalleled on a global scale.
Lastly, we’re considering unveiling the Aquatle-S Sea Drone, a fully autonomous marvel. However, we are carefully evaluating the extent of technological advancements required at this stage. Stay tuned for more updates!