Is it possible for a car to be driven without a driver? Cars and drivers are complementary to each other, just like a mobile and its battery. But now a Bengaluru techie has come up with such an innovation—a car that would not require a driver to drive it.
Roshy John works in TCS as the practice head of robotics and cognitive systems. Once when he was returning home from the airport, his dozy cab driver had almost bumped into another vehicle. Taking control of the wheel John not only reached home safely but also drove the sleepy driver home, saving both of them from a near accident.
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The incident made him ponder and after five years, his friends and he had actually innovated Tata Nano Autonomous, India’s first driverless car. Programming the software and algorithms in their spare time, John’s team of 29 created a 3D model to test it. He had also bought a Nano in 2011 to test the software as he finds it the most suitable automobile to test Indian technology.
Onboard diagnostics, which is present in most cars nowadays, was utilised by John whereas he monitored the car with a scanner. He operated its accelerations by collecting data from the car. Custom cluster, an algorithm made by John and his team helped them to read the engine specifications. Wheel encoders, multiple lidars, GPS and HDR cameras were used to gather other specifications of the car so that the car actually operates like a human. He connected the accelerator, brake and clutch to pedal robots and connected them to the software.
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Having a test drive on road is the only thing that’s left right now. He will be demonstrating his innovation soon in an event that will be scheduled soon. With an investment of one crore, Roshy John is now testing his software on other cars too. Automobile biggies like Daimler, Nissan, General Motors, BMW, Google and Tesla have started investing big amounts in developing driverless cars.
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