Excellence for Testing & Research of
Autonomous Vehicles NTU) in
Singapore, Siemens Mobility has
partnered with NTU (Nanyang
Technological University) to develop
an extra layer of safety for
autonomous vehicles.
In the Siemens/CETRAN
project, lidar – along with
other AV-type sensors such
as radar – has been
deployed on roadside poles
across the test track. Lidar
helps to create a live, digital
twin of the entire area. This
information is broadcast
both to a control centre, and,
to reduce latency to minimal levels,
directly to autonomous vehicles
operating in the area, using DSRC.
Effectively, what Siemens and
NTU have succeeded in creating is an
environment in which autonomous
vehicles can see around corners.
Because, now, instead of being
reliant solely on their on-board
sensors, the AVs can access
information from sensors way
beyond their usual range.
A new data layer
“Now lidar data isn’t just coming
from onboard AV systems, it is
coming from infrastructure,” says
Siemens Mobility Asia Pacific CEO
Michel Obadia. “This allows the
vehicle to have a better trip, firstly
because it is safer, but also because it
will be more efficient, and smoother.
It enhances the passenger experience.”
For example, the system can tell
an AV if a pedestrian is approaching
an intersection, even if it is out of the
The lidar data isn’t coming
from onboard AV systems, it
is coming from the infrastructure. This
allows the vehicle to have a better trip
Michel Obadia, CEO, Siemens Mobility Asia Pacific
range of the AV sensors. The vehicle
can therefore slow gradually as it
approaches the point of possible
conflict, and if the pedestrian does
happen to step out into the AV’s path,
it can stop easily, without any need
for emergency braking.
It is perhaps no coincidence that
Singapore’s LTA (Land Transport
Authority) recently issued a Call for
Collaboration that signalled its
intention to investigate the
deployment of on-demand,
autonomous buses in three of its
districts, in order to reduce 2022
The year by which
Singapore is on track to
deploy the world’s first
full-size autonomous
bus pilot
Right: Infrastructure
at CETRAN is
equipped with lidar,
radar and DSRC units
| Lidar on Infrastructure
public transport journey times
without the need to recruit more,
already scarce, drivers.
“We are planning for large scale
deployment of autonomous shuttles
and buses in three of our towns:
Punggol, Tengah and the Jurong
Innovation District, for connected use
in the early 2020s,” said Dr Swan Gin
Beh, chairman of the Economic
Development Board, Singapore, at the
ITS World Congress in Singapore in
October 2019.
Being on-demand, such a service
would be a step beyond point-topoint
autonomous shuttle buses –
already deployed in certain locations
around the world by developers such
as Navya – in that the AV would be
able to roam freely around a
residential area, picking up
commuters from their homes and
dropping them at mass-transit stops,
thereby reducing overall journey
times. The Siemens Mobility
advanced infrastructure system
would appear to be an excellent way
of making such a service safer.
“Ultimately the infrastructure will
be optimised around particular
applications,” says Obidia. “The
infrastructure will make sure the
information is transmitted to selfdriving
vehicles. It could work well
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