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Publish Date : 06-Jan-2015

A Chennai-based start-up, Gyan Data, has developed a meter for autorickshaws which is equipped with tracking and data communication capabilities and can also be recalibrated without opening up when fares are revised. Shankar Narasimhan, a chemical engineering professor for over two decades at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, who founded the company, said, additionally, the meter can serve as a platform for advertising and generate additional income. Gyan Data with increasing concerns over safety for women, has integrated a GPSbased tracking system and have made the meter Internet-enabled.

The meter comes in a size of a set-top box, and has capacity to calculate fares based on wheel revolutions and can also be tracked using the Global Positioning System, a satellite-based navigation facility, that can be used for verifying the distance travelled. Meter is capable of giving data to the driver regarding traffic congestion in the city and also indicates which parts of the city are under-served by autos. In collaboration with Raghunathan Rengaswamy, an IIT-Madras professor, and Venkat Venkatasubramanian, a Columbia University professor specialising in machine learning and artificial intelligence, Narasimhan has developed a product which can be regulated in a centralised manner.

Narasimhan said, “Every time there is a fare revision, drivers queue up in large numbers with few technicians who can recalibrate the meters manually. We wanted to make meters that can be centrally recalibrated. Like how fuel stations get petrol prices reset whenever a fuel price hike or cut is announced.” This product features the Rasberry Pi, a no-frills computing device which is claimed to be similar to the one used in smartphones. Initially, the company had integrated the GPS system with device to make a meter that ascertained distance based on navigational data.
Each meter comes at a cost of Rs 10,000, however, there is an earning opportunity as the device features an USB port that enables a screen device to be connected to display advertisements.

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