B.Tech. Mechatronics Engineering (Autonomous Driving Technology)

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) also known as self-driving vehicles or driverless vehicles are expected to bring a paradigm shift in connected transportation. Automotive giants from across the globe are investing huge shares in developing such autonomous vehicles considering it as the future transportation with predicted market size of INR13720 billion by 2030. Owing to this rapid growth in this market, there is acute shortage of skilled human resources typically with diverse skillset in perception, state estimation, intelligent planning and control and so forth. To meet this end, currently no formal degree program is offered in this space by any university in the country. Basically, an autonomous car is a high-speed intelligent mobile robot on road. It comprises of subsystems from different domains like mechanical, electrical and electronics, embedded computing, networking and so on which have to be integrated synergistically through software in a Model Based Design framework. Therefore, a degree in mechatronics engineering with a specialization in autonomous driving technology will be ideal for providing students such a holistic multi-disciplinary knowledge in this AVs space, which is indeed in line with NEP2020’s emphasis on holistic multidisciplinary education. Although the growth is very evident in development of autonomous passenger cars, there are several areas where the self-driving technology is silently being incorporated and tested including defence, construction, industrial transportation, marine, aerospace and etc., Despite these diverse applications areas, the core expertise required to provide autonomous driving solution remains more or less the same. With abrupt increase in demand for such engineers to work in those areas, it is definitely the right time to offer a specialization program in this space. The electric mobility research centre is being established with state-of-the-art facilities to develop electric and autonomous electric vehicles in SRM Institute of Science and Technology. The centre is funded by DST under PURSE scheme. The centre is expected to house all the sophisticated resources required to conduct this specialization program. With the support from the centre and industrial partners, an optimal learning environment will be created and support will be provided to execute the program thereby enabling the students to acquire rich multi-disciplinary practical knowledge which is one of the coveted missions of NEP2020.