Minus Zero, an autonomous driving technology startup, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) and I-Hub Data to cultivate a research ecosystem for autonomous driving in India. Their collective goal is to conduct innovative research across various areas, such as fundamental models for autonomous driving, computer vision, AD simulators, synthetic data, and more.
“With India taking a strong stance in the global AI race, close collaboration between industry and academia is crucial to foster an ecosystem that incentivizes researchers to pursue foundational AI research in the country”, said Gagandeep Reehal, CEO and co-founder of Minus Zero.
The partnership seeks to enhance the AI research environment in the nation by merging practical industry challenges with cutting-edge academic studies. Additionally, the collaboration strives to develop an extensive, meticulously crafted dataset of Indian road scenarios. This dataset will play a crucial role in the training, validation, and assessment of AI models for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Driving (AD).
The comprehensive dataset will document the varied road infrastructure, traffic flows, and environmental settings across the country. “This strategic alliance underscores IHub-Data's dedication to facilitating cutting-edge research and technology development while also propelling Minus Zero towards the forefront of the automotive industry's evolution”, said Veera Ganesha Yalla, IHub-Data CTO.
In the preceding year, Minus Zero showcased the functionalities of its autonomous driving platform within a controlled setting using a specially designed vehicle known as the 'zPod'. Established in 2021 by Reehal and Gursimran Kalra, Minus Zero has garnered support from prominent investors such as Chiratae Ventures and others.