Driving test goes digital in Karur, TN plans to have 13 more similar test tracks
Tamil Nadu government, under the Karur Regional Transport Office (RTO), has got its first electronic driving testing track for cars and twowheelers. Set up at a cost of Rs 40 lakh, this is the first such track in Tamil Nadu, even the entire country. The State government has plans to establish 13 more such tracks in the state investing Rs 10 crore. The digitised test tracks will ensure that every license-holder will be a welltrained driver.
The testing track model was designed by a group of 25 students and 2 faculty members of the IT and ECE Departments of M Kumarasamy College of Engineering in Karur. Shanmuga Velayudam, Professor and Head of the IT Department of the college, told AutoComponents
India, “The RTO official who conducts the test will be inside a room monitoring the driver’s movements and observing through camera and sensors the way he drives. No official will be sitting next to the licence-seeker to assess his driving. Evaluation and every other assessment will be done from the monitoring room. Result will be conveyed inperson. This is a compulsory test in the Karur RTO now for getting a driving licence.”
No one can cheat as there is a fingerprint checking to ensure that the person who had applied for the licence is taking the test. The automated test course holds an H-track, a slope and a sharp curve through which applicants should drive without hitting the sides. As the sides hold vibration sensors it will raise an alarm when the vehicle slams to it. The applicant has to go through the entire trial to get his licence and it takes around 7-8 minutes to complete.
The track also has a 32-feet long slope, where one has to stop and start. An alarm goes off if the driver is unable to halt or proceed without rolling back. Each applicant is allowed 2 chances and is declared failed only when the alarm rings for the third time.
“For two-wheelers, we have the usual ‘8’ without the sensors. It only has a video camera to see whether they pass the test. With the help of this, we get more trained drivers. They also learn a lot of other things that includes breaking application, parallel parking etc.,” Professor Velayudham said.
Now the track is not open for the public to try their skills before the real test. “In future, it may be opened”, he said. “Our first project was an Accident Status Report (ASR), which is in android and web application fully done by the IT Department. It was done exclusively for the RTO and is still live. After its success, we got this project and was ready by 2016. The first prototype was reviewed, and the officials suggested a few changes. After the alterations, it has now been implemented. This will be beneficial to many and it will reduce the rate of road accidents,” the Professor said.
As of now, the Karur automated driving test track is in the study mode. Once, this is perfected and proved to be successful, the rest of the track projects across Tamil Nadu is expected to be given to Department. Meanwhile the college has also applied for a patent for this technology.