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About RBG Labs

RBG Labs was established in IIT Madras in 2006 by Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian at the Department of Engineering Design. The main mission of the lab is to address societal problems through a Data-Driven Systems approach. The lab has been a pioneer in driving human factors-based product and process innovation in transportation and road safety, driver health and behaviour monitoring, lean manufacturing, and public policy.

Working with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, RBG Labs conceptualized and designed the electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) erstwhile Integrated Road Accidents Database (iRAD). eDAR/ iRAD is a comprehensive road accident database and application that integrates multiple stakeholders in road safety, such as police, transport, road-owning agencies, and hospitals, in a single platform. It is one of the few programmes which is implemented and live in all 36 States/ UTs in India. Continuous feedback on reported data quality, capacity building programs on using eDAR/ iRAD and the data insights for formulating interventions are being carried out by IIT Madras.

Summary of RBG Labs' activities

RBG Labs mentors and advises Governments, technology-based start-ups, SMEs and automotive industries in strategic management, disruptive and sustaining innovations, new product development and productivity improvement.

Some of the technological innovations from the lab include:

1. Suzhal Management System (SMS), a methodology to disruptively innovate to develop new products and implement lean operations.

2. Transport Safety Framework (TSF), a data-driven systems approach to improving road safety.

3. Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency care Initiative (TAEI), a Unique and comprehensive A&E Program based on decades of learnings from process improvement and lean manufacturing.

4. Conceptualization and Design of electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) erstwhile Integrated Road Accidents Database (iRAD).

5. Projects on Data-Driven Interventions for Improving Road Safety in Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand.

6. Intelliseat™, Auto Component of the Year 2018 winning product that uses IoT to ubiquitously monitor driver behavior and performance.

Journey of RBG Labs

The Centre of Excellence in Road Safety (CoERS) at RBG Labs, IIT Madras is funded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India, to perform evidence-based integrated approach to Road Safety. CoERS works on various aspects of human factors engineering, road engineering and vehicle engineering to bring about significant improvements in road safety globally. CoERS also advises various stakeholders and Governments to bring about a data-driven systems approach to road safety. They work on several projects that apply design thinking methodologies to develop innovative systems towards safe roads, data-driven interventions in road safety and new product developments for driver health performance and behaviour monitoring.

Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian
Professor, RBG Labs
ED 315, Department of Engineering Design
IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036

vb[.]iitm@gmail[.]com
(044) 2257-4117/ 5618

About
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Research
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eDAR / iRAD

Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian
Professor, RBG Labs
ED 315, Department of Engineering Design
IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036

vb[.]iitm@gmail[.]com
(044) 2257-4117/ 5618

About
  Founder
  Collaborators
  Team members
  Students
  Alumni

Research
Patents & Invited Talks
Publications & Reports
Public Policy

News
Blog
Awards
Events & Workshops
Courses
Careers
Contact
eDAR / iRAD

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