Just hours after reportedly being asked to vacate its pavilion at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi over a dispute involving a robotic dog, the Galgotias University found itself facing fresh online scrutiny. This time, the spotlight shifted to a “soccer drone” that the institution said was built end-to-end by its students and staff at its Greater Noida campus.

In videos circulating online, a university representative described the device as a fully indigenous effort. Presenting the drone as part of the university’s in-house innovation ecosystem, the staff at the University’s stall can be heard telling a media channel, “It is a very interesting thing, from its end to end engineering to its application, everything has been done at the university and this is India’s first drone soccer arena which you will get to see on campus at Galgotias.”

But the internet didn’t take the claim at face value and quickly began playing detective.

Several users pointed out that the drone appeared identical to the Striker V3 ARF, a commercially available soccer drone developed by South Korea’s Helsel Group. The model is used globally in drone sports. As per the netizens, the resemblance of drone was less “homegrown breakthrough” and more “add to cart”.

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The controversy came on the same day Galgotias representatives were asked to leave the summit’s expo area after one of their exhibits raised questions. A four-legged robot showcased as a product developed by the university’s Centre of Excellence was identified as the Unitree Go2, a quadruped robot made by China-based Unitree Robotics. At the summit, the machine was displayed under the name “Orion”.

Thermocol drone on display

As if the situation needed more plot twists, videos also surfaced showing another drone model at the university’s pavilion that appeared to be made from thermocol, wrapped in plastic film and secured with rubber bands. The visibly makeshift prototype, displayed at an international event attended by the who’s who of the tech world and head of states, drew sharp reactions online.

One user on X posted a clip of the model and wrote, “My dudes at Galgotia literally brought a thermocol-made drone to an international AI summit. Cancel this university’s UGC accreditation…they are ruining the lives of its students.”

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Galgotias issues apology

Facing mounting criticism, the university issued a public apology. In a statement, Galgotias said the confusion arose because a pavilion representative was “ill-informed” about the technical origins of the products and had spoken enthusiastically on camera without authorisation.

“She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information even though she was not authorised to speak to the press…Understanding the organisers sentiment we have vacated the premises,” the Galgotias University said in a statement.