KOCHI: The country’s first autonomous Nano car showcased at the Cocon 2018 conference proved a huge hit with the delegates.
Roshy John, Head of Robotics and Cognitive Systems Tata Consultancy Services, unveiled the wholly indigenously developed car at a time when global tech majors Google and Apple are conducting extensive research on autonomous cars.
He invested nearly `1.5 crore on the project to turn the dream into a reality. The car makes use of inertial measurement system, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). “I took the decision to develop a driverless car after seeing my driver dozing off at the wheel. Following this, I had to drive the car and the incident prompted this endeavour,” he said.
It took John almost a decade - nine years to be precise - to come out with his prototype. He also showed the limitations of technology by staging the abduction of DGP Loknath Behera at the conference by hacking into the car’s programme.
“The hacking of the car was meant to make people understand technology’s shortcomings,” he said.