SANGAREDDY: A short test drive in a driverless car on Monday left IT Minister D Sridhar Babu excited to the extent that he said that such vehicles could be introduced on the roads of Telangana as part of a pilot project.
The minister visited the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad at Kandi village here and took a ride in a driverless car developed by students of the institution in collaboration with Suzuki, Japan.
Prof Rajyalakshmi told the minister that the driverless car was developed at TiHAN, a dedicated autonomous navigation research facility at IIT-H. She said that the effort is to tailor the driverless vehicle to suit Indian road conditions, traffic and weather variations.
In addition to driverless cars, the students are conducting research on autonomous bicycles, motorcycles and drones capable of carrying up to 100 kg.
Sridhar Babu: IIT-H car tech superior to Silicon Valley’s
Sridhar Babu also said that the technology developed at IIT-H is superior to that of a driverless car he recently tested in Silicon Valley. He commended the research efforts of IIT Hyderabad students and faculty. Sridhar Babu said that the government is encouraging research and scientific temperament and mentioned the upcoming Skill University which will have industrialist Anand Mahindra as its chairman.
The minister also said that the government intended to involve experts from various prestigious educational institutions as directors of the varsity. He invited IIT-H director PS Murthy to join the varsity.