IIT Hyderabad launches ‘M2Smart Project’ Testbed to develop low-carbon transport models

HYDERABAD: To develop low-carbon models for Indian transportation, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad on May 28, launched an ‘M2Smart Project’ Testbed. IIT with Japanese researchers, officials from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Traffic Police and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) were present at the occasion.

A practical handbook on low-carbon urban transportation for developing countries would be generated by the testbed. The handbook will be based on big data of Indian transportation and it will create traffic flow models from data analysis.

Real-time traffic monitoring using cameras and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensors, speed detection system, conflict warning system using traffic signal lights and remote environment gas sensing on the IIT campus as well as on NH 65, are some of the key components of the traffic management system. The testbed system was deployed on IIT Hyderabad campus and along a stretch of 3 km on NH-65.

Electric rickshaws running on the campus are used to understand the driving cycle of e-vehicles. This will help to implement the V2X technology.

Hyderabad is not the only city where the traffic monitoring is conducted but also in Ahmedabad. This is to monitor and compare differences between the two cities in real-time.

“Reducing carbon footprint is the need of the hour. India has diverse modes of transportation and we need to understand this diverse mobility much better. The testbed under the M2Smart project is aimed at this fundamental objective”, said Prof U B Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad.

The ‘M2Smart Project’ is India and Japan’s joint research project under Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development Program.