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In a groundbreaking initiative, students from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, are working on the development of Pakistan’s first self-driving car. The National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) is leading the project, which intends to produce an autonomous car by integrating cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
This is the first AI-powered driverless car initiative in Pakistan, as per the engineers involved. At present, no other institution in the nation is engaged in a comparable endeavour. The autonomous car is scheduled to be tested on public roads by the NED University team within the next six months.
A unique electronic vehicle has been imported from China in order to facilitate the vehicle’s development. The vehicle is currently undergoing modifications to incorporate sophisticated AI tools, thereby transforming it into a fully autonomous vehicle. Engineers are currently developing a variety of AI-driven features, including lane recognition, object detection, and speed limit detection.
The team has already made substantial progress in software development and data administration, according to the project director, Associate Professor Dr. Muhammad Khurram. He is certain that the initial test drive on the roadways of NED University will be possible within the next six months.
The project is being actively worked on by two research students, Aleema and Inzamam, who explained that robotics technology is being integrated alongside AI. The mapping process has been finalised, and they have successfully implemented AI algorithms to detect objects and recognise lanes.
Currently, the team is focusing on key aspects such as traffic signal recognition and steering control, which are integral to the car’s autonomous functionality.
