‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’- India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial)

Context

The virtual foundation stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’, India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial) was laid.

What is TiHAN?

• The initiative has been started under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).
• It has been set up aa Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, RoVs, etc.).
• The 'TiHAN Foundation' has been incorporated as a Section-8 company by the institute in June 2020.
• It is a multi-departmental initiative.

How it is significant?

• It is a great step towards ‘AtmaNibhar Bharat’, ‘Skill India’ and ‘Digital India’.
• With an essential focus on the research and development of interdisciplinary technologies in the specific domain area of "Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems," this hub focuses on addressing various challenges hindering the real-time adoption of unmanned autonomous vehicles for both terrestrial and aerial applications.
• Several organizations worldwide have developed test beds or proving grounds to investigate the functioning of unmanned and connected vehicles. At present, there is no such test bed facility in India to evaluate the autonomous navigation of vehicles.