Mahindra Experimenting with Driverless Cars - Developing Software to Control Car’s Movement in India

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Mahindra experimenting with driverless cars; developing software to control car’s movement in India

Mahindra’s electric car subsidiary, Mahindra Reva, has submitted proof of concepts for driverless cars in the UK and Singapore. ​

BENGALURU: Mahindra Group is all set to join an elite league of companies such as Google, Tesla, BMW and Audi that are experimenting with driverless cars.

Mahindra's electric car subsidiary, Mahindra Reva, has submitted proof of concepts for driverless cars in the UK and Singapore, a senior executive told ET. "We have already begun experiments in our R&D facility in Bengaluru. Once we get approvals from the respective governments, we'll start testing these cars on road," the executive said.

Mahindra Reva will need 3-4 years to develop a production model after starting trials, according to the executive. While the road tests would be carried out in the UK and Singapore, the software to control the car's movement and other aspects is under development at the company's research and development facilities in India, in partnership with the group's technology arm, Tech Mahindra, the executive said.

A Mahindra spokesperson declined to comment on the development. "In terms of Indian car makers, Mahindra has always been the most innovative.

This culture is driven from the top with their moto Mahindra Rise," said Satish RM, principal research analyst at Gartner. "The biggest challenge they'll face is in building different technologies for different countries because of varied regulatory environment."

Today's top-end cars are laden with a number of technologies that automate some tasks, such as intelligent cruise control and lane-departure detection. Range Rover Evoque has a 'Park Assist' feature, wherein the car parks itself into the nearest vacant parking spot.

Mahindra Reva currently has about 2,000 electric cars on India's roads, each with more than 100 sensors attached. The company collects data from the cars for analysis and diagnosis, as even offers a feature to fix many glitches remotely.

The Mahindra executive mentioned above said this data will be crucial for the company to understand how various functions of a car can be automated.

The executive, however, said the company so far has no plans to test driverless cars in India. "Indian roads are too crowded to test driverless cars at the moment. Currently, our focus is on the US, Europe and South-East Asian markets. Once these experiments are successful, we might start road tests in India as well."

Mahindra is also trying to crowdsource some of the innovation in the area of driverless cars. The company last month began a driverless car challenge, inviting engineers to build such cars for a prize money of $700,000.

The project will let the selected teams build driverless car prototypes for decongesting Indian roads. The first edition will have a timeline of 2-3 years split into three phases.

Source:- Mahindra experimenting with driverless cars; developing software to control car’s movement in India - The Economic Times

 

[TimeTraveller]

Nice.........

 

[Vaishnu]

In Indian road conditions these would utterly fail ........ Almost 70% of the guys dont follow rules.

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

In Indian road conditions these would utterly fail ........ Almost 70% of the guys dont follow rules.

Maybe that's why the road tests would be carried out in the UK and Singapore - Reva is basically meant for the western market.

 

[Vaishnu]

Maybe that's why the road tests would be carried out in the UK and Singapore - Reva is basically meant for the western market.

I did read that . My view was even in future like 20 -25 years Indian traffic and road won't be disciplined. There won't be strict lane following , neither there will be a stop in Jumping signals .Road encroachments.

And don't forget our important element of our country - "COWS AND BUFFALOES"

 

[jamahir]

first remove the stupid motorcycles that clog indian roads and then speak of driver-less cars.

 

[JohnyD]

waste..

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

I did read that . My view was even in future like 20 -25 years Indian traffic and road won't be disciplined. There won't be strict lane following , neither there will be a stop in Jumping signals .Road encroachments.

And don't forget our important element of our country - "COWS AND BUFFALOES"

Maybe we can expect that in some cities like Bangalore? Even today Bangalore has a pretty efficient traffic management system!

 

[ganesh177]

first remove the stupid motorcycles that clog indian roads and then speak of driver-less cars.

Remove motorcycles ? Why ?

 

[jamahir]

Remove motorcycles ? Why ?

there are reason for half of the traffic problems and many of the crimes.

you will have seen school/college boys and naukri-khors ( wage slaves, jobniks ) weaving their motorcycle through what is already jammed traffic, without caring for others and adding to the noise and tempers and jams by then getting stuck themselves between cars... they are terribly selfish... ambulances get into jams mostly because of the motorcyclists.

near "stopped" traffic signals, many motorcyclists will drive onto the footpaths and it is the walkers who have to dodge on a path dedicated to walking... the motorcyclists care only about getting ahead and nearer to the traffic signal to get away when the light turns green... who the hell are these motorcyclists... certainly not someone important in the scheme of world affairs... then why the rush.

and then there are the school/college boys doing high-speed wheelies and other idiotic stunts on busy roads, with one or two backseat passengers hanging onto the driver... these idiots do this laughingly... they must be shot when seen... their parents are idiots.

some times some foolish females encourage these idiotic boys by riding on the backseat and the motorcycle zooms past as usual... the motorcycles are all ugly of course... either the huge enfield bullet, or that also noisy racing-style motorcycle, or that one with the sloping seat that goes very high at the back... the females should really be embarrassed to ride with such idiotic males who don't seem to think of the dangers of having crash and killing or injuring their female companion or getting involved in minor accident and the possible subsequent quarrel with whom they crashed into.

many criminals use motorcycles... not only the professionals but also goons of criminal political parties or politicians.

many school/college males in india tend to move about in gangs and their attitude is of arrogance and criminality and intimidation... their preferred travel mode is via motorcycles... they drive slowly or aggressively, two or three on one motorcycle, all the while talking aggressively... these idiots cannot do anything when alone... i am as scared of them and hate them as much as i hate and fear dogs.

motorcycles are ugly, impractical and dangerous... i find them very undignified, not worthy of me, even sitting on the backseat... i would rather walk than sit on motorcycle.

motorcycles keep a person in poverty... who typically uses a motorcycle?? the typical school/college student who will never have the mindset of dropping out and starting a business but will want to finish college and get a job which will get him just enough money to buy useless consumer devices ( like cell phone ) but will never get him enough money to get bigger things without going for a bank loan which in india's capitalist system will mean a lifetime of jobs to pay off the interest-upon-the-loans, thus not giving him time to start a small business, let alone something spectacular like spacex.

thus the typical motorcyclist is a parasite, never contributing to humanity, unless he fathers a female child.