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Mock skyscrapers, simulated rain at Singapore self-driving test centre
SINGAPORE, Dec 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The road sweeper and a golf buggy move
around the track with ease, jamming their brakes on when a pedestrian steps
out and negotiating sharp turns.
Welcome to Singapore’s self-drive test centre, complete with traffic
lights and mock skyscrapers, which is at the heart of the city’s push to
become a hub for autonomous technology.
However, while authorities are keen to tap a global drive by auto giants
and startups to develop vehicles, the industry must still prove it is safe
and persuade people to use the technology.
The two-hectare (4.9-acre) site has a track with sharp turns, traffic
lights, a slope, and a bus stop to simulate real driving conditions. Shipping
containers are also stacked up to emulate how high rises could potentially
block satellite signals to self-driving machines.
The CETRAN centre, run by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), even has
a rain-making machine that can simulate the frequent tropical downpours in
the Southeast Asian city-state of 5.7 million people.
“Before you are ready to go to the public roads, we test them here to see
if they are actually ready,” said Niels De Boer, programme director at the
centre.
– Negotiating turns, dodging pedestrians –
All companies must put their autos through the centre’s testing and
certification programmes before they are allowed to hit public roads.
The sweeper is being trialled as part of a government plan that could
eventually see them deployed in the city, according to local media, while
cars and buses are also being tested, and trials of delivery robots will soon
take place.
Orderly Singapore is seeking to lure autonomous tech companies looking to
trial their vehicles in Asia, where many other major cities are chaotic and
traffic-clogged.
The government has led the drive, as it seeks to attract more foreign
firms and because it sees the technology as useful for public transport and
delivery services.
The first trials of an autonomous car on public roads took place in 2015.
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In 2016, US software firm nuTonomy launched driverless taxi trials in
public in Singapore, becoming the first company in the world to do so.
Authorities aim to deploy autonomous public transport in three areas by
2022, and in October announced it was expanding the area where self-driving
vehicles can be tested to 1,000 km (620 miles) of public roads.
Self-driving vehicles will mainly be used in the public transport network
for tasks such as shuttling people to stations and stops from their homes or
workplaces, said Subodh Mhaisalkar, an NTU professor involved in the
autonomous vehicle programme.
De Boer from the CETRAN centre said authorities were working on ensuring
the correct regulations, such as traffic laws, are in place for self-driving
vehicles.
Countries where private companies are taking the lead risk having
“wonderful technology” but not being able to launch it in the market because
of the absence of rules, he added.
– Bumpy path to success –
There are still many roadblocks ahead, however.
Safety remains a major concern for the industry worldwide — in 2018, a
self-driving Uber car was involved in a crash that killed a woman in Arizona.
All trials in Singapore still require a safety driver and most vehicles
are not yet ready to cope with the regular tropical downpours.
And the tiny country remains behind other markets, such as the US, where
self-driving ride services are in various stages of deployment.
“It would be very difficult to lead in the whole industry simply because
the nation is small,” said Guoli Chen, associate professor of strategy at
French business school INSEAD.
The key challenge may be persuading members of the public to hop aboard
self-driving vehicles, and experts say the technology will have to be
introduced in stages.
“It’s a journey that may take 10 to 20 years, but I think it’s
inevitable,” NTU’s Mhaisalkar said.
BSS/AFP/HR/0925