Auto industry walks the safety talk at ICAT’s ADAS Show

The ADAS Show, which was organised by the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) at its Centre-II site in Manesar, Haryana, saw 45 companies, including leading OEMs, Tier-1 manufacturers, technology majors as well as startups in the mobility domain take part in the mega event.

The event, held on December 7, saw companies such as Honda Cars India, MG Motor India, Valeo, Uno Minda, Dassault Systemes and Rosmerta Technologies, among others, showcase their advanced technologies related to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) solutions. A slew of track demonstrations were also lined up as part of the show that aimed to spread awareness about the benefits of ADAS technologies and its role in reducing road accidents and fatalities.

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) - a key Level-2 ADAS functionality - being demonstrated wherein a lead vehicle is followed by the trailing vehicle which accordingly adjusts its speed.

According to Dr Hanif Qureshi, IPS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, “India's automotive industry is US$ 152 billion in size and contributes 35 percent to the manufacturing GDP and 7 percent to overall GDP of the nation. Automobile industry propels and facilitates growth in all other areas of the economy, and we need to capture critical value in the automotive value chain to become a global manufacturing hub.

“The government's focus is towards advanced automotive components, and that is the reason schemes such as PLI and FAME are important. ADAS is incentivised under the Rs 26,000 crore Auto PLI scheme which sees 85 applicants, of which 67 are automotive component companies. ADAS components are one of the key technology elements being incentivised under the PLI scheme,” he added.

According to Saurabh Dalela, Director, ICAT, “The objective of the programme is to spread awareness about ADAS technology so that it takes a push, and gives a head start to regulations, localisation, and commercialisation.”

“We are talking about the various types of functionalities in ADAS, how the regulations will take shape, and infrastructure be developed in India, and also get challenged by people's questions. Close to 1,000 visitors attended the event which was held at the state-of-the-art ICAT infrastructure that allows a holistic view of technology demonstration. Several car manufacturers are already doing work towards the development of Level-1 and Level-2 ADAS technologies at the ICAT test track,” Dalela added.

He further elaborated that regulations around ADAS are taking shape gradually, and India is already deliberating on the Indianised version of the European ECE regulations on ADAS. “That's what usually happens - technology comes first, and regulations follow,” Dalela said.

Harman's automotive division had it 'ReadyCare' fully-integrated ADAS solution for monitoring driver's physical and mental distraction levels.

Tech tour de force

While Kerala-based Rosh.AI brought its driverless prototype of the Toyota Innova Crysta MPV, Pune-based Starkenn Technologies demonstrated its autonomous vehicle prototype.

Tier-1 automotive giant Harman also showcased its integrated ReadyCare driver monitoring system, while Rosmerta Technologies showcased its driver monitoring system for commercial vehicle and fleet applications. Uno Minda, on the other hand, showcased its ECU-less parking assistance system.

According to Nirmal Minda, Chairman, Uno Minda Group, “We are going through a disruptive phase in the automotive industry for the last five years, and therefore, it becomes crucial to invest into R&D and continue to innovate. I would urge component manufacturers to get a startup mindset, create some proof-of-concepts and move forward.

“The PLI scheme is immensely helping the industry to localise advanced components by doing backward integration,” Minda said.

Starkenn Technologies' self-driving prototype of a micro vehicle that can be used to undertake logistical duties within closed premises like a warehouse.

According to Vivek Salvi, Sales Director - India, Transport & Mobility, Dassault Systemes, “With our Catia Scaner suite of ADAS testing and validating scenarios for virtual simulations, we are empowering automakers to develop, test, and calibrate the technology using our multi-geography data. While we work with almost all leading OEMs in India, globally Renault is one of our key customers for ADAS technologies.”

Scaner is a complete, open, and modular platform including advanced models for Vehicle Dynamics, Driver, Sensors, and Environment (Roads, Traffic, Weather) from functional to full physical modelling used by more than a hundred customers across the globe. It is now used for the development and validation of driving assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), the design of urban infrastructures and makes it possible to travel millions of virtual kilometres in a few days.

“The ADAS Show aims to sensitise people on this emerging technology and its various functionalities such as autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane-keep assist. Through track demonstrations, we aim to give people a first-hand experience of these life-saving technologies,” said Ramanathan Srinivasan, MD, Automotive Test Systems.