CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) partnered with
Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India (RNTBCI) to host a National Hackathon
called ‘HACK-CIDENTS’ recently to address road safety, a critical issue in India. It was a great
opportunity for students from various colleges to make a real difference in people's lives and
help save lives on Indian roads.
The objective was to reduce the number of fatalities caused by road accidents in the country.
The Hackathon invited teams of college students and young professionals with different skill
sets to participate and contribute to the cause.
The Transportation Engineering Division in the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, and
the Centre for Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras, worked with RNTBCI on this CSR Initiative.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gaurav Gupta, Director, Road Safety, Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India, emphasized the importance of
road safety, as road crashes are one of the leading causes of deaths, disabilities, and
hospitalization in India, with over 1.5 lakh fatalities and over four lakh people injured on Indian
roads every year.
The Ministry was seeking to partner with and support start-ups working in the field of road safety
as start-ups can quickly develop and deploy new technologies, and are more agile and creative
when it comes to finding new solutions for existing road safety problems, Shri Gaurav Gupta
added.
The final round was conducted at IIT Madras on 22nd April 2023, where the top eight shortlisted
teams presented their prototypes to the panel of esteemed judges and winners of the ‘HACK-
CIDENTS’ were declared.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions were grabbed by:
1. Team Megami from Rungta College Of Engineering and Technology (RCET),
Bhilai:
MEGAMI designed a device that will measure the shock wave produced by the collision of
vehicles due to an accident and share the details such as location and time and victim detail to
the help centers such as hospitals, and police stations and to the associated devices like mobile
phones of the family members. Their vision is to report accidents immediately so that no life can
ever be wasted due to delays caused by the emergency response team to reach the place.
2. Team Forage from Maharishi Markandeshwar Engineering College (MMEC),
Mullana:

TEAM FORAGE is focusing on solving two major problems simultaneously: the pothole location
alert and drowsiness detection & alerting system. They will develop a mobile application that is
capable of interacting with the hardware and getting the GPS coordinates of the potholes and
alerting the user via the hardware.
3. Team Bolt from IIT Madras
 TEAM BOLT proposed to create an advanced collision avoidance system that lies at the
intersection of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) systems and autonomous
vehicles. The system will actively monitor traffic, and database of locations with high accident
rates and will warn drivers when present in such locations of the possible situations and also
enable enhanced assistance by the system. This system will be compatible and easily
implementable on all four-wheelers
Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean (Global Engagement) at IIT Madras, thanked
everyone and welcomed them to the final part of the event. He remarked that it was fitting for a
computer science and AI person to be speaking at a transportation competition, as cars are
increasingly becoming all about CS and AI.  
Further, Shri Kapil Saratkar IPS, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic Chennai City
Traffic Police, said that it was important to choosing one’s projects wisely and make sure they
are feasible and considering the market and its needs. He praised everyone’s hard work and
extended support for the selected teams.
Speaking on the occasion, PI of the project Prof. Gitakrishnan Ramadurai, Department of
Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, commended the teams on their hard work and innovation. He
also thanked the mentors from RNTBCI who supported the teams at every stage. “The
hackathon was a good example of how CSR projects could help make a difference in the real
world,” he added
Mr. Harada Hirotake, Senior Vice President, RNTBCI spoke about the three components
of safety – vehicle, environment, and behavior. While several advancements have happened in
first two, the third part- behavior is also equally important. He noted the ideas presented at the
Hackathon addressed this important aspect of behavior.
Mr. Hirotake and Prof B. Ravindran, Head Robert Bosch Centre for data science and AI, IIT
Madras, flagged off MTC bus equipped with sensors to improve safety of buses.

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