In order to make Indian roads safer, Maruti Suzuki India has joined hands with Microsoft Research India. The duo has developed a smartphone based technology for testing applicants seeking driver’s license. Called HAMS (Harnessing Automobile For Safety), the new tech has been deployed at Automated Driving Test Centre (ADTC), Dehradun in association with the Transport Department, Government of Uttarakhand. The technology is being developed and tested jointly by Maruti Suzuki-promoted Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) and Microsoft Research India.
Maruti Suzuki has partnered with State Governments to set up state-of-the-art Automated Driving Test Centres. These centres are equipped with advanced video analytic technology to check driving skills of the applicants and replace manual assessment of candidates. Thanks to the new tech, it takes only 10 minutes to complete the test and generate the report. The average pass rate now stands at 54% as compared to over 90% in the earlier manual testing mode.
The feedback from the candidates, including those who fail the test, has been positive. The candidates appreciate the objectivity and transparency of the entire process. During the testing process, the applicant’s car is equipped with a HAMS-enabled smartphone that monitors the driver as well as the road in-front. It employs advanced artificial intelligence models for efficient and robust operations. For driving tests, HAMS has been customized to include capabilities such as precise tracking of the vehicle’s trajectory during designated test maneuvers.
To ensure transparency, in case of a disagreement on the test results, applicants can also avail the option of viewing a video recording of their test drive.
The key technical capabilities of the ADTC Dehradun include:
– Facial recognition to address identity fraud
– Automatic seat belt use detection, for safety compliance
– Automatic detection of traffic signal violations
– Ability to validate driving correctness for standard maneuvers like S-round about, parallel parking, reverse parking
– Monitoring kerb hits
– Automatic generation of test score and outcome
– Video evidence for candidates who wish to review their test
