India is growing at a high-pace and the number of vehicles in the countries is also reaching new highs every year but the procedure to get a driving license has not been updated at the same level which makes getting a Driving license in the country a kind of headache with the procedure.
Microsoft India has introduced a new HAMS (Harnessing AutoMobiles for Safety) project — an automated driving test system that will help the Transport Authorities in India to provide a more advanced and automated driving license test system and it will also help the applicants to get rid of the sufferings of the old procedure.
How does it work?
The AI-based system in simple words uses the front and rear cameras, and other sensors of the smartphones to monitor the driver (for instance, their gaze) and the road scene in front (for instance, the distance to the vehicle in front), simultaneously.
Microsoft has customized the HAMS especially for driving tests to include capabilities such as precise tracking of the vehicle’s trajectory during designated test maneuvers, for instance, parallel parking or negotiating a roundabout.
This tracking enables HAMS to determine precisely, for instance, whether the driver stopped in the middle of a maneuver for longer than is permitted or tried to course-correct by rolling forward and backward alternately more times than allowed.
“The main challenge in the traditional driver’s license test is the burden placed on the human evaluators and the resulting subjectivity that a candidate faces. Automation using HAMS technology can not only help relieve evaluators of the burden but also make the process objective and transparent for candidates,”
Venkat Padmanabhan, Deputy Managing Director, Microsoft Research India
Implementation and Future Project
Microsoft has implemented HAMS at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand and as per Microsoft on average, over 50 candidates take the HAMS-enabled automated license test every day at the Dehradun RTO.
but due to the comprehensive nature of testing, just about 50 percent of candidates pass the test, ensuring that only qualified drivers are given a driver’s license.
The success of HAMS at the Dehradun RTO augurs well for its wider adoption, within the country and beyond, to ensure well-tested drivers enable better and safer roads everywhere.
