Engineering Students at Lovely Professional University (LPU) have designed and created a unique solar-powered driverless bus. The bus is slated to enter into commercial service later this year and its first prototype will be utilized to welcome and ferry Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the venue of world’ largest ‘Indian Science Congress (ISC) 2019 to be inaugurated at LPU campus on 3rdJanuary 2019. This, Five-Day 106th edition of ISC 2019 will be held from 3rd to 7th January at LPU.The design and creation of the bus has been made keeping in mind the Indian conditions, and the cost of the bus is approximately Rs 6 lakh. As the bus-engine is powered by both battery and solar-cells, so the running cost is almost negligible. With a maximum speed of 30 km per hour, it has a seating capacity of 10-30 persons, as per needs. Over 300 students from mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering departments of the university collaborated under the guidance of LPU professors and experts to design and fabricate the vehicle. The fabrication is being done at the LPU Project Studio where other such R&D and product commercialization also takes place.
The bus is completely pollution free and uses only renewable energy in the form of electric motor and solar power for propulsion.Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication technology has been used to make the bus driverless. The bus also uses GPS and Bluetooth for navigation and could be controlled within a radius of 10 metres. The technology works by using wireless signals detected through ultra-sonic & Infra-red sensors.LPU Chancellor Mr Ashok Mittal shares: “The bus is one of the interesting projects done by the students. The Indian Science Congress will indeed be a great exposure for our innovative students. This driverless bus shows that our students are technologically far ahead. Their other such interesting projects include flying farmer, formula1 car, go-karts and more.” Project head Mandeep Singh informed: “We are very happy to design a completely driverless and eco-friendly bus to welcome PM Modi. Once the bus is launched commercially, it will be used at Airports, housing societies, industrial complexes, and even educational institutions.”