IIT-Hyderabad to test Unmanned Vehicles within six months

Sangareddy: The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) is all set to test unmanned vehicles that can be operated on roads, air and water within six months, initially on its campus at Kandi in Sangareddy district. Addressing the year-end press conference at the campus on Tuesday, IIT-H Director Prof BS Murty said the institute had up […]

Sangareddy: The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) is all set to test unmanned vehicles that can be operated on roads, air and water within six months, initially on its campus at Kandi in Sangareddy district.

Addressing the year-end press conference at the campus on Tuesday, IIT-H Director Prof BS Murty said the institute had up the project under Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Navigation Systems (TiHAN) of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicle (RoV).

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Stating that they were working on a lot of technology advancements, Prof Murty said the work on UAVs and ROVs would be a landmark project in IIT-H’s history. A team of faculty, researchers, and students under the leadership of Prof P Rajyalakshmi were working on the project. The Department of Science and Technology has granted Rs 135 crore for the project for laying the test bed. The project commenced last year. With the team of scientists developing the prototype of the vehicle, Prof Murty said they will test the vehicle on the test-bed within six months.

Pointing out that they were not using fuel-run vehicles on the campus for mass transportation since September last, the IIT-H Director said they were using hired electric vehicles for all mass transportation purposes from the main entrance gate to various parts of the campus. He said they would soon use electric vehicles developed by their own faculty and students and replace the hired vehicles. The unmanned vehicles on road, air and water will also be operational soon as they were preparing to test the vehicles within six months from now.

Prof Murty said: “Despite the Covid pandemic, we witnessed a fruitful year with world-class research, academic advancement, best-ever placement season, state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence, significant campus development, among other things. Keeping up the momentum, we are now striving to train and upskill the talents among youth in line with our motto to Invent and Innovate in technology for humanity.”

He said: “IIT-H has a strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. In a recently released star rating by the Ministry of Education Innovation Cell, IIT-H was given 4-star for its splendid performance for the financial year 2020-21. It is based on various initiatives taken to firmly establish the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem at the IIT-H. A Research Park and an Innovation Park spanning 1.5 lakh sqft each are also coming up, and these will be a major boost for startups and industry relations. The Institute is also introducing a series of online and industry-oriented M.Tech programmes in the coming year.”