India’s First Analog Space Mission Kicks Off in Leh, Ladakh

India has launched its first analog space mission, as the country's space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has kicked off its first analog space mission in Leh, Ladakh. This mission aims to simulate life in an interplanetary habitat to tackle the challenges of a base station beyond Earth.

The mission is a collaborative effort involving the Human Spaceflight Centre, ISRO, AAKA Space Studio, University of Ladakh, IIT Bombay, and is supported by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. The mission will replicate conditions similar to those on Mars and the Moon, considering Leh's extreme climate and geographical terrain.

The habitat, named Hab-1, is equipped with essentials like a hydroponics farm, kitchen, and sanitation facilities, providing a self-sustaining environment.

This mission will test new technologies, robotic equipment, vehicles, habitats, communications, power generation, mobility, infrastructure, and storage 2 It will also study the effects of isolation and confinement on human health and performance.

As mentioned before, the mission includes a compact, inflatable habitat named Hab-1, which is equipped with essentials like a hydroponics farm, kitchen, and sanitation facilities. This habitat provides a self-sustaining environment.

Leh, Ladakh, was chosen for its extreme climate and geographical terrain, which closely resemble Martian and lunar landscapes. The region's cold, arid conditions and high altitude make it an ideal environment for testing technologies and strategies necessary for long-duration space missions.

Technological Testing

During the mission, scientists will test new technologies, robotic equipment, vehicles, habitats, communications, power generation, mobility, infrastructure, and storage. They will also study the effects of isolation and confinement on human health and performance.

Support for Future Missions

The findings from this mission will directly support India's Gaganyaan mission, which is slated to send Indian astronauts into space by 2026 3. The insights gained will be crucial for ensuring the safety, health, and performance of astronauts during long-duration spaceflight.

This is a significant step towards understanding the complexities of living on other planets and will provide valuable insights for future space missions.

Tata Elxsi Launches XR Platform 'Coalesce' Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Spaces XR Platform

Tata Elxsi recently launched Coalesce, an innovative XR platform powered by the Snapdragon Spaces XR Platform from Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

An Immersive Collaboration, Coalesce facilitates immersive collaboration by bringing together spatial computing, digital twins, and simulations.

The Snapdragon Spaces XR Platform is an integrated platform and ecosystem developed by Qualcomm Technologies Inc. for creating immersive experiences on XR (Extended Reality) devices. The platform enables spatial computing experiences, allowing users to interact with digital content in a 3D space. It supports a wide range of XR devices, including VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality), and MR (Mixed Reality) headsets.

Coalesce, the newly launched platform, supports reviews of product models, allowing teams to interact with 3D models in a virtual environment. It includes features for sharing text, audio comments, notes, and screen recordings with globally dispersed teams.

Coalesce offers a 360-degree review for immersive interaction, enhancing the collaborative experience.The platform is device-agnostic and web-based, making it accessible across various XR devices.

This solution is designed to help businesses create transformative spatial computing experiences, making remote collaboration more efficient and engaging.

Aditya S Chikodi, Vice President & Head - Industrial Design, Engineering, & XR, said, “Product design and engineering are taking a leap forward with augmented virtual reality and spatial computing. Coalesce introduces a revolutionary approach to digital twins and performance simulation, pushing the boundaries of XR in the product development process.”

Per Neilson, Senior Director, Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., added, “Tata Elxsi is working to bring the Coalesce platform to market, empowering industries and executive workforce to collaborate and make real-time decisions in product design and enterprise simulated environments. We are excited to see this platform brought to Snapdragon Spaces.”

Indian Railways Crew to Get Advanced AI Simulation based Training as Subsidiaries of L&T and US-based Union Pacific Sign MoU

L&T Technology Services Limited (LTTS) and PS Technology (PST), a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad, have joined forces to revolutionize railways in India and adjacent geographies. Their strategic partnership focuses on introducing cutting-edge AI-based simulation technology to the railway sector. As part of this initiative, they've established a Customer Experience and R&D Center (CXC) in Faridabad near New Delhi.

This center will drive advancements in simulation, training capabilities, and crew management, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency and safety for Indian Railways.

The collaboration between PST and LTTS will enhance safety and provide real-time insights for modern-day transportation.

This new center will simulate real-time data collection, proactive decision-making, and improved resource management, establishing superior standards in rail simulation, immersive learning, training, and crew management. By leveraging AI & augmented reality technologies, the center aims to make rail transportation safer, more secure, and faster.

Through this partnership, LTTS will bring its considerable domain expertise in the rail engineering segment to assist in the localization and Indianization of PST’s technology, ensuring it meets the specific needs of the Indian railways. By integrating PST’s simulation technology, the partnership aims to set new standards in operational excellence and safety within the Indian rail sector.

Coming Soon India’s 1st Autonomous Navigation Testbed TiHAN at IIT Hyderabad

Union Minister of Education virtually lays foundation stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’- India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial)

Special Features of this Facility include Test Tracks, Emulation of Real-World Scenarios, State of the Art Simulation Technologies, Road Infrastructure, V2X Communication, Drone Runways and Landing Area, Mechanical Integration Facility, Centralized Control Room/Ground Control Station, Hangars and many more.

Union Minister of Education Shri. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, virtually laid foundation stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’, India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial) in the presence of Honorable Minister of State for Education Shri. Sanjay Dhotre, Dr. B. V. R. Mohan Reddy (Chair Person, Board of Governors, IIT Hyderabad), Prof. B. S. Murty (Director IIT Hyderabad) and senior officials from Ministry, Department of Science & Technology (DST), GoI and IIT Hyderabad.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has sanctioned Rs. 135 crores to IIT Hyderabad under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to set up a Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, RoVs, etc.). The Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Remotely Operated Vehicles at IIT Hyderabad, known as 'TiHAN Foundation' has been incorporated as a Section-8 company by the institute in June 2020.

#TiHAN - Un nouveau pôle d'innovation technologique sur les systèmes autonomes de navigation et d'acquisition de données placera l'Inde dans une frontière technologique avancée reconnue mondialement: @SanjayDhotreMP @IITHyderabad @GITAfunding pic.twitter.com/1N1ssDGwpK https://t.co/qwyB35mDFc

— India in Congo (@IndiaCongo) December 30, 2020

Expressing this delight to witness this technology advancement Shri Pokhriyal said “TiHAN Foundation, established at IIT Hyderabad, is a multi-departmental initiative, including researchers from Electrical, Computer Science, Mechanical and Aerospace, Civil, Mathematics, and Design at IIT Hyderabad with collaboration and support from reputed institutions and industry. It is a great step towards ‘AtmaNibhar Bharat’, ‘Skill India’ and ‘Digital India’, he said. With an essential focus on the research and development of interdisciplinary technologies in the specific domain area of "Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems," this hub focuses on addressing various challenges hindering the real-time adoption of unmanned autonomous vehicles for both terrestrial and aerial applications, he added.”

Minister of State for Education Shri Sanjay Dhotre complimented the remarkable initiative taken by IIT Hyderabad team. Dr. B. V. R. Mohan Reddy, Chairman BoG, IIT Hyderabad has praised the hard work of IIT Hyderabad Faculty for this gigantic project.

Congratulating the TiHAN Team, Director IIT Hyderabad, Prof. B. S. Murty said, “One major requirement to make unmanned and connected vehicles more acceptable to the consumer society is to demonstrate its performance in real-life scenarios. However, it may become dangerous. Especially in terms of safety, to directly use the operational roadway facilities as experimental test tracks for unmanned and connected vehicles. In general, both UAV and UGV testing may include crashes and collisions with obstacles, resulting in damage to costly sensors and other components. Hence, it is important to test new technologies developed in a safe, controlled environment before deployment”.

Highlighting the importance of this facility Project Director - TiHAN & Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Dr. P. Rajalakshmi said, “Several organizations worldwide have developed test beds or proving grounds to investigate the functioning of unmanned and connected vehicles in a controlled environment by replicating different scenarios, ranging from frequently occurring to extreme cases that may ensue in real-life traffic operations. 

At present, there is no such test bed facility in India to evaluate the autonomous navigation of vehicles. Therefore, it is envisioned to address this gap by developing a fully functional and exemplary test bed facility dedicated to Connected Autonomous Vehicles - CAVsin a portion of the beautiful IIT Hyderabad campus. The hub's focus sectors include Intelligent, Autonomous Transportation and Systems, Agriculture, Surveillance, and Environmental & Infrastructure Monitoring.”

Total Area 2 Acres of land has already been allocated in the IIT Hyderabad campus and the facilities are planned in phases. All Smart poles are enabled with communication providing technology with some Poles designed with sprinklers to simulate rain scenario. The developed test bed will be available for use by all the industries, R&D labs, academia conducting research and development in the broad areas of autonomous navigation.