Singapore Opens an Autonomous Vehicles Centre

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has opened Singapore’s first Autonomous Vehicle test centre, which was developed jointly with JTC and Land Transport Authority (LTA): The Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of Autonomous Vehicles (CETRAN). Around $3.6 million was invested to support the research for the safe deployment of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) on the roads in Singapore.

The opening of this facility is all part of the city’s long-term goals. From 2022, Singapore would like to deploy autonomous buses on public roads within three different districts throughout the city-state, with Singapore’s Ministry of Transport Khaw Boon Wan stating that, “the aim is to provide better connectivity and reduce congestion over the city.”

The CETRAN 2-hectare facility test, aims to develop the deployment of AVs all over Asia, especially in tropical conditions. The fully equipped test centre will test AVs on their communication with other vehicles in complex environments. To allow a quick deployment of AVs, the CETRAN AV centre will put the test vehicles through their paces in conditions that are intended to reproduce real driving conditions on Singapore’s roads. The AV centre is also equipped with a rain simulator and flood zone to test the AV reactivity under extremes weather conditions.