Context: Recently, Union Minister of Education has virtually laid the foundation stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad, which become India’s first Testbed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial).

About TiHAN-IIT

• It will facilitate research grounds to investigate the functioning of unmanned and connected vehicles in a controlled environment by replicating different scenarios, ranging from frequently occurring to extreme cases that may ensue in real-life traffic operations.
• At present, there is no such testbed facility in India to evaluate the autonomous navigation of vehicles. Therefore, it is envisioned to address this gap by developing a fully functional and exemplary testbed facility dedicated to connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs).
• Connected vehicles use technology to either communicate with each other, connect with traffic signals, signs, and other road items, or obtain data from a cloud. This information exchange helps with safety and improves traffic flow.
• This hub focuses on addressing various challenges hindering the real-time adoption of unmanned autonomous vehicles for both terrestrial and aerial applications.

Primary focus includes

• Research & Technology development in the area of Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, RoVs).

Industry Collaborations

• Joint R&D Initiatives, Consultancy, Technology Outreach Schemes, Training of Industry Personnel, Continuing Education.
• Human resource & Skill development.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Start-up Ecosystem

• Start-ups and Incubation in the Technology Vertical, Attracting Private Funding (Corporate Social Responsibility, Voluntary Contributions and equity based), Technology Commercialization.

International Collaborations 

• Academia & Industry, Faculty/Student Exchange Programs.

Features of TiHAN-IIT

• Total Area: 2 Acres of land has already been allocated in the IIT Hyderabad campus and the facilities are planned in phases.
• Facilities: Test Tracks, Emulation of Real-World Scenarios, State of the Art Simulation Technologies, Road Infrastructure, Drone Runways and Landing Area, Mechanical Integration Facility, Centralized Control Room/Ground Control Station, Smart Poles etc.
• Promotion to research: The developed test bed will be available for use by all the industries, R&D labs, academia conducting research and development in the broad areas of autonomous navigation.

Additional Information

• Cyber Physical Systems(CPS): It is a new class of engineered systems that integrate computation and physical processes in a dynamic environment. It encompasses technology areas of Cybernetics, Mechatronics, Design and Embedded systems, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) among others.

National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS): It was launched in 2018 by the Department of Science & Technology for a period of five years.

Aim: To create a seamless ecosystem for CPS by coordinating and integrating nationwide efforts encompassing knowledge generation, human resource development, research, technology, innovation and commercialization.
Key Objectives of the Mission: The mission implementation would develop and bring:

• Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and associated technologies within reach in the country,
• adoption of CPS technologies to address India specific National / Regional issues,
• produce Next Generation skilled manpower in CPS,
• catalyze Translational Research,
• accelerate entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystem development in CPS,
• give impetus to advanced research in CPS, Technology development and higher education in Science, Technology and Engineering disciplines, and
• place India at par with other advanced countries and derive several direct and indirect benefits.

Features of the mission

• The mission aims at establishment of 15 numbers of Technology Innovation Hubs(TIH), six numbers of Application Innovation Hubs(AIH) and four numbers of Technology Translation Research Parks(TTRP).
• These Hubs & TTRPs will connect to Academics, Industry, Central Ministries and State Government in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and other organizations across the country in a hub and spoke model.