IIT Mandi develops sensor based road monitoring system to prevent road accidents

New Delhi: In a move to minimise the risk of frequent accidents caused by sharp and blind turns especially in hilly areas, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has developed a smart road monitoring system that detects the speed, direction, type of vehicle and signal the driver about the oncoming turn.

The signals are decided based on the speed, direction, gradient of the slope, and type of vehicle.

Although previous techniques like installing convex mirrors helped but they were not very effective to minimise the road accidents.

Talking about this invention, Dr. K. V. Uday, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, IIT Mandi, told NDTV: "This technique will not only reduce the accident risk in sharp curves but will also help in reducing human intervention on traffic counts, management and helps in decision making."

IIT Mandi said in a statement: "At a prototype development stage, the system costs less than Rs. 20,000 excluding the alerting units per curve. However, the innovators are currently working on the commercial aspects and trying to bring down the overall product cost, by lowering operating & maintenance costs, and utilizing alternative energy sources to make the system self-sustainable using solar energy."

The IIT Mandi team included Dr. Kala Venkata Uday, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, IIT Mandi, along with his team of BTech. students from the 2016- 20 batch including, Mr. Naman Chaudhary and Mr. Shishir Asthana from Mechanical Engineering; Mr. Amudhan Muthaiah from Electrical Engineering, and Ms. Nidhika Kadela from Civil Engineering.