Enhancing Vehicle Safety With Vision

Offering vision-based, cloud-connected intelligent dash cams that integrate visual insights and provide a unique and actionable feedback on driver behaviour in real-time, Netradyne – a Bengaluru-based company – is working towards enhancing safety on the road.

With products that are capable of monitoring subtle driving patterns, from adhering to traffic rules to identifying risky behaviour, the products that Netradyne is presenting capture and process data and learn continuously from new data points.

“The focus area is on increasing precision in safety systems with the goal of achieving near-perfect accuracy. The second major product is an advanced drowsy detection system,” informed Vinay Rai, Executive Vice President – Engineering, Netradyne.

Stating that the products enhance vehicle safety, fleet operations and are an outcome of much innovation, he averred, “Currently available in the US, they will be soon introduced in India.”

Engineered to integrate additional accessories mounted on the windshield to improve driver monitoring accuracy, a critical element in the case of commercial vehicles particularly, the products aim at creating a more reliable system capable of detecting fatigue in drivers with greater precision.  

Revealing that the company is making strides in predictive analysis using large language models and massive data sets that have been accumulated over billions of kilometres of driving, Rai said, “With a potential to predict the behaviour of various agents on the road including vehicles, pedestrians, animals and even objects, the technology, by analysing the data, can anticipate actions before they happen, providing a smoother and safer driving experience.”

An exciting development being the integration of vision-based technology into mapping systems, which is unlike the traditional crowd-sourced data that rely on surveys and can be out-of-date, Netradyne is employing real-time data that is captured by its system directly from vehicles that ply on the road.

What this does is to allow for quicker updates such as the identification of newly installed traffic signals, which are immediately processed and uploaded to the cloud.

Stating that an advanced drowsy detection system will be launched in H1FY26 in India, Rai said, “In the realm of fleet management, the company is also expanding its platform to offer more than just safety features.”

Planning to launch a comprehensive fleet management tool by early next year that will help companies monitor key metrics like vehicle location, driver behaviour and vehicle health in real-time, Netradyne is operating development centres in Bengaluru and San Diego, US.

Operating in almost a dozen countries including the US, UK, India, Australia and Canada, the company’s system has detected over a billion alerts across various regions. Pursuing a goal to provide businesses with critical insights into their fleets and help identify top-performing drivers and those in need of coaching, the company is catering mainly to a B2B market of commercial vehicles.

It is driving much of the innovation and tech development from India.

Market opportunities

With the research and development workforce in India accounting a major share of the developments, Netradyne – offering solutions to fleets diverse in nature – is looking at its home market in India with the confidence that the rate of adoption of driver safety systems will grow fast and steadily.

“The perception of vision-based safety systems in India is evolving, albeit slowly. India remains a cost-sensitive market, where many businesses and individuals prioritise affordability over advanced safety technologies,” Rai expressed. “There is a growing awareness about the long-term benefits of such systems, especially in terms of preventing accidents and reducing liabilities,” he said.

The change in perception is being driven by several factors, including MNCs in the commercial fleet or logistics space adopting technologies like these for safety and brand positioning. Rai averred, “While India is still several years behind developed markets in terms of safety culture and the adoption of advanced technologies, the trend is definitely moving in a positive direction. The growing awareness, both at the consumer and business levels, suggests that this shift will continue over time, even if it doesn’t happen overnight. Overall, the market for vision-based safety technologies in India is in its early stages but is showing signs of growth.” 

The company’s biggest market is the United States, which has been the focus since the company's early days in 2015. It also made a strong presence in India, UK, Canada, Mexico and Germany.

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Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions company, has further expanded its capabilities in the rapidly evolving Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) space with the addition of three new engineering centres in Europe. This marks the firm’s long-term strategy to strengthen its end-to-end automotive software capabilities, chip-to-cloud technologies and services.

The company has set up two new Automotive Delivery Centers in Germany – located in Munich and Villingen-Schwenningen as well as an engineering centre in Romania.

The German facilities the company shared will support automakers in developing and deploying TCS’ software-driven services that cater to autonomous driving, infotainment, safety systems and connected vehicle technologies. On the other hand, the Romanian facility will focus on designing and building advanced automotive software platforms to support early-stage development and innovation.

The new facilities will enable close collaboration with OEMs in Europe and global automotive enterprises.

At present, the company has onboarded over 100 professionals in Europe who will work together with more than 2,000 SDV Engineers across TCS global locations. This diverse and global talent pool will enable the development of next generation automotive platforms for digital cockpits and infotainment, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and other critical SDV functions — supporting the full product lifecycle from concept and development to production and post-launch support.

Regu Ayyaswamy, Senior Vice-President & Global Head, Internet of Things (IoT) and Digital Engineering at TCS, said, “These new centres will position TCS at the forefront of automotive innovation, enabling us to deliver state-of-the-art solutions in autonomous driving and advanced cockpit systems. This expansion reaffirms our commitment to leading the transformation in the Software-Defined Vehicles space.”

Anupam Singhal, President and Business Group Head, Manufacturing, TCS, said, “The shift to software-defined vehicles marks a defining moment for the automotive industry. With the launch of these new centres, we are deepening our commitment to support OEMs in building the next generation of intelligent, connected, and sustainable vehicles. This expansion is a key milestone in our journey toward Future-Ready Mobility — where software, engineering and design, backed by AI, converge to deliver safer, more personalised and continuously enriching experiences for drivers and passengers.”

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Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, has announced the winners of the 9th Cohort of its flagship Accelerator program.

The winners include six Indian startups: Frinks AI, mistEO, Adagrad, Com Olho, ProSolvr and Eligere and three German startups: Caire AI, Syn2Core and Talonic, under the newly introduced Global Startups category. This marked the first global cohort where a total of 19 startups from India and 7 from Germany participated to showcase their ideas/solutions across domains such as AI, cybersecurity, road safety, quality control, EV charging infra and battery swapping among others.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “Startups bring fresh thinking and new ideas. Through the Maruti Suzuki Accelerator program, we have been working with them to co-create future-ready solutions that enhance customer experience and drive operational efficiency in the automobile manufacturing and mobility space. The participation of global startups, this cohort onwards, marks a new milestone in this journey. It further supports our efforts to contribute meaningfully to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ initiatives of the Government. We welcome the winning startups to join us in our mission to offer ‘Joy of Mobility’ to as many people as possible.”

Launched in January 2019, Maruti Suzuki India in the last six years, has screened over 5,000 startups, engaged with 150 startups and onboarded 25 startups partners.

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Shanghai-headquartered Inceptio Technology, a developer of autonomous truck technologies, has joined the Autoware Foundation, a global open alliance for autonomous driving tech.

As part of the understanding, Inceptio will collaborate with members of Autoware Foundation to advance innovation and accelerate the deployment of safe, scalable autonomous truck technologies.

Inceptio's technology portfolio covers L4, L3 and L2+ autonomous driving capabilities. It will leverage its proprietary full-stack Inceptio Autonomous Driving System - which features long-range perception, high-precision tractor and tailer control, fuel-efficient driving algorithm, as well as HPC specifically designed for truck's operating condition. This it shared improves safety, fuel efficiency and operational cost. Using data-driven R&D platform continuously refines core modules in real time, enabling rapid deployment and optimisation of autonomous truck technologies across diverse use cases in trucking.

Launched in 2018, the Autoware Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting open-source collaboration that accelerates the development of autonomous driving technology globally. It counts the likes of Tomtom, Robosense, NXP, Huawei, Hitachi, Capegemini, Foxconn, AMD and Amazon Web Services amongst its members.

Inceptio, on its part, was amongst the first to have launched the industry's first series production autonomous trucks in late 2021. Till date, Inceptio Autonomous Driving System is claimed to have has achieved over 200 million kilometres of commercial operations.

Shinpei Kato, Founder and Fellow, Autoware Foundation said, "We are excited to welcome Inceptio Technology to the Autoware Foundation. Inceptio's proven track record in autonomous trucking and deep industry and production expertise will be invaluable as we work together to build the next generation of autonomous mobility solutions for the trucking industry."

Inceptio will actively participate in the Autoware Foundation initiatives by contributing technology and use cases, exploring new applications, and forging global partnerships.

Julian Ma, Founder & CEO, Inception Technology, added, "We look forward to collaborating with a global open-source community of innovators to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technologies and extend the community's reach deep into truck segment. Our extensive experience in series production and insight from world's largest commercial deployment of autonomous truck uniquely position us to contribute to the Autoware Foundation, driving safer and more efficient logistics worldwide."

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Tata Elxsi, a global leader in design and technology services has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Infineon Technologies, a leading semiconductor solutions company, to jointly develop application-ready electric vehicle solutions tailored to the Indian market.

The partners will collaborate on design and integration expertise to drive faster adoption of automotive-grade, cost-efficient and safety-compliant subsystems across key mobility segments. This collaboration, the partners stated, aligns with India’s rapid shift towards electrification, with EV sales growing by 25–30 percent year-on-year in 2024, including a 28 percent increase in electric two- and three-wheeler sales.

As part of the understanding, Tata Elxsi will bring its design, system integration and validation capabilities, while Infineon will provide early access to its latest semiconductor technologies – such as silicon carbide (SiC)-based components, microcontrollers and integrated circuits (ICs).

The partners will work closely to develop high-voltage inverters for traction and auxiliary systems, scalable battery management systems (BMS), bi-directional onboard chargers and high-voltage thermal management solutions for the Indian market targeting two-wheeler, three-wheeler, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicle segments. In future, they also look to support eVTOL, energy and off-highway sectors.

Nambi Ganesh, Head – Automotive, Tata Elxsi, said, “Currently, several of our EV solutions are already built on Infineon SoCs and components. This MoU further strengthens our partnership by giving us a clearer scope and tighter system-level alignment, enabling shorter turnaround times to address Indian market requirements. As EV adoption scales, our focus remains on delivering production-ready, automotive standards-compliant platforms and solutions.”

Kenneth Lim, Senior Vice-President – Automotive, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, said, “At Infineon, we are committed to driving innovation in the electric vehicle sector and empowering our partners to bring cutting-edge technologies to market. This partnership with Tata Elxsi is a significant step in our journey to support India’s ambitious electrification goals. By combining Tata Elxsi's design and integration expertise with our advanced semiconductor solutions, we are not only enhancing the development of ready-to-deploy EV systems but also ensuring that they meet the highest safety and performance standards. Together, we aim to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility across various segments, from two-wheelers to commercial vehicles, and contribute to a more sustainable future for India.”

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