Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh on Monday (4 July) inaugurated a first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art “Autonomous Navigation” facility to develop unmanned ground and aerial vehicles on the IIT Hyderabad campus.

Developed at a budget of Rs. 130 crores by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology, TiHAN (Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation) is a multidisciplinary initiative that will make India a global player in the futuristic and next-generation ‘smart mobility’ technology.

“Limited testbeds or proving grounds exist worldwide to investigate the operation of unmanned and connected vehicles in a controlled environment by simulating various scenarios that may occur in real-life traffic operations, ranging from frequently occurring to extreme cases. In India, there is presently no such testbed facility for assessing autonomous vehicle performance, and hence the need for this TiHAN Testbed."

He added, “TiHAN Testbed will provide a unique platform for high-quality research between academia, industry and R&D labs both at the national and international level, thus making India a global leader in autonomous navigation technologies." 

He said that the TiHAN-IITH testbed on Autonomous Navigations (Aerial & Terrestrial) will allow us to test the next generation of autonomous navigation technologies accurately and allow faster technology development and global market penetration.

The minister said that TiHAN is developing and deploying a real-time CPS system utilizing autonomous UAVs and ground/surface vehicles for many application sectors of the national importance of this decade.

“This testbed includes simulation platforms that allow for non-destructive testing of algorithms and prototypes. Several real-world scenarios can be emulated on the testbed. In terrestrial systems, a few examples of these scenarios are Smart Cities, Signalised Intersections, Autonomous Vehicle Interactions with Cyclists and Pedestrians, Wireless Networking among vehicles and Road-Side Units, etc. The autonomous vehicle testbed also provides dummy signboards, pedestrians, overpasses, and bikers to test all real-world conditions."

The Minister also interacted with startups developing unmanned ground motor vehicles like driver-less self-driven motor cars, driver-less self-driven bicycles etc., and unmanned aerial vehicles including drones in different shapes and sizes. Unmanned aircraft vehicles including drones can be used for various healthcare purposes.

The minister also appreciated that IIT-Hyderabad has established a new post-graduation course of M.Tech in smart mobility, which is the first of its kind in India. He said he was glad to know that the Ministry of Science & Technology has played a role in promoting this visionary and futuristic initiative in India, which is going to be of global relevance in the years to come.

Image source: HT