The Department of Science and Technology (DST) funded Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (TiHAN) has opened at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad).
The centre was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh. The state-of-the-art ‘Autonomous Navigation’ facility to develop unmanned ground and aerial vehicles.
Funded by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology at a budget of Rs 130 crore, the TiHAN is said to be a multidisciplinary initiative, which aims to make India a global player for the next generation of ‘Smart Mobility’ technology.
Furthermore, IIT Hyderabad has also started a new Post-Graduation course of M.Tech in ‘Smart Mobility’, which is said to be the first-of-its-kind in India.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that 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. A few examples include Millbrook Proving Grounds in the UK, M-City in the USA, CETRAN in Singapore, K-City in South Korea and JARI in Japan among others. In India, there is presently no such testbed facility for assessing autonomous vehicle performance, and hence the need for this TiHAN Testbed.
