From Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru: L&T Tech Services brings student-led AI innovations to city’s traffic battle

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From detecting potholes with sensors to deploying autonomous robots for sewage inspection, final-year engineering students from Tamil Nadu are offering cutting-edge tech solutions to Bengaluru’s traffic and drainage problems. Now, L&T Technology Services is stepping in to translate their AI-driven innovations into real-world applications.

This could be particularly helpful for a city like Bengaluru, which experiences waterlogging even with light rain.

The mid-tier information technology firm has already picked up such student innovations and translated them into real-world use cases. For example, it recently implemented an embedded AI solution in an industrial machine, based on a student’s project, Ashish Khushu, Chief Technology Officer at the Vadodara-headquartered firm, told Moneycontrol at the company's innovation platform for engineering students, TECHgium.

Once a project is approved, L&T Tech Services typically brings both the student and their innovation on board, integrating the talent along with the technology.

“Embedded engineering today is enabling personalised real-time experience. And that's because of the computational power that is available in small form factors,” Khushu said, adding that the company has absorbed around 400-500 students over the last eight years through TECHgium.

With a population of about 1.4 crore, Bengaluru has 1.14 crore registered vehicles, including 77.2 lakh two-wheelers and 23.6 lakh cars. Moreover, the city receives around 970 mm of rainfall annually, significantly contributing to road damage, which, along with other factors, leads to severe traffic congestion.

Take the case of Vishwanath A. from Shri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, who, along with his classmates, built a pothole detection system combining a camera module and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors.

“We use radar and LiDAR integrated with GPS to map pothole locations. These can then be uploaded via Google APIs to a web platform connected to authorities like the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) or municipalities,” he explained.

By using the above tech, authorities can respond faster, plan preventive maintenance, and ease congestion.

While Vishwanath tackled the detection challenge, Saravanan and Praveen, final-year students mentored by robotics expert Krishna Kumar from Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, focused on what comes next: how to fix it efficiently

They have developed a fully autonomous robot for pipeline and sewage inspections.

Designed for 360-degree internal scans, the robot predicts pipeline health and even clears blockages using metal brushes and high-torque drilling mechanisms. “It can inspect 1 km of drainage in 1.5 hours, generate predictive maintenance reports in 10 minutes, and withstand 5-10 PSI (pounds per square inch) water pressure with built-in propellers,” Saravanan said.

Their idea comes from a growing urban challenge: storm drains overflowing onto roads, eroding surfaces, and adding to Bengaluru’s pothole problem.

Meanwhile, at a different college, Professor Sundareshwari was mentoring a team exploring similar ground with a different approach, addressing another piece of the same puzzle.

The Rathinam Technical Campus professor presented a sensor-driven system that detects internal pipe blockages and even corrosion of materials. “The sensor alerts the worker on clog formation. We’re working toward an autonomous version where even human intervention will be optional,” she said.

“In a city like Bengaluru, which is a metropolitan city… it (robot) will be efficient through the pipeline which will clean and will come out of the other end of the pipeline,” Sundareshwari added.

She added that the robot can be connected with the IP address to the application, with live data being shown on a monitor.

“If the student joins us and there's an aligned customer use case, we ensure continuity and convert it into working solutions,” Khushu said, pointing to another successful implementation in medical imaging.

He also highlighted that embedded engineering remains critical as cities like Bengaluru seek smarter, faster, and safer solutions for their infrastructure woes. “Everything from phones, cars, even two-wheelers, is becoming intelligent. And behind that is embedded engineering and AI,” Khushu further added.