ENVIRONMENT & WATER ENGINEERING
Consortium develops Autonomous Environmental Service Vehicle Deployment of the technology will result in an innovative and transformed environmental services industry. An Autonomous Environmental Service Vehicle has been jointly developed by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore); Enway Pte Ltd; SembWaste Pte Ltd; and Wong Fong Engineering Pte Ltd. Their efforts are supported by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and National Robotics Programme (NRP). Principal Investigator, Professor Wang Danwei, from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU, leads the AESV project which includes the development of novel technologies for off-site operations and robot cybersecurity solutions for the project. Enway is a developer of autonomous software for heavy duty vehicles, focusing initially on the cleaning industry, with its Blitz class autonomous industrial sweeper launched in September 2019. The company combines knowhow in engineering, robotics, machine learning, computer vision and artificial intelligence, with operational expertise that is unique in the professional cleaning industry. As Co-Principal Investigator, Enway is developing the AESV’s navigation system and autonomous road sweeping functionality. SembWaste is the waste management and recycling arm of Sembcorp Industries, a focused energy and urban development company offering sustainable solutions. A leading environmental services company, SembWaste provides waste management, public cleaning and recycling services, and is the operational partner for the public trials of the AESV. Wong Fong is a trusted provider of land transportation engineering solutions and systems. For this project, the company developed and manufactured the AESV’s field infrastructure including the docking
The AESV developed by the NTU-Enway-Sembcorp-Wong Fong Consortium.
station and waste compactor for autonomous dumping.
Features of the AESV The AESV incorporates the following features, to make street sweeping sustainable and efficient: • Zero carbon emission, less noise: The AESV is fully electric and has lower ambient noise output compared to conventional sweepers. • Improves productivity: (i) Operations can be shifted to late nights/early mornings, avoiding rush hours and optimising road usage and (ii) The system allows for dynamic route planning and remote operation to ensure the AESV can handle all situations it encounters. • Enable job re-design: Deployment of the AESV will enable job re-design, to address manpower shortage in the cleaning industry and attract young talents to join. • Precise cleaning: The ability to autonomously sweep along the kerb facilitates effective cleaning of heavy debris areas. • Safety: The AESV is cybersecure, to guard against malicious attacks on its sensors and actuation systems.
• Tested on the NTU Smart Campus: A living testbed for innovative digital and tech-enabled solutions, the NTU Smart Campus is home to the Centre of Excellence for Testing & Research of Autonomous Vehicles – NTU (CETRAN), where public road trials for the AESV are conducted in smallscale testbed environments.
Specifications of the AESV • 8 hours sweeping range and 2.5 hour charge time. • Equipped with 3D LiDAR sensors and cameras for localisation, kerb following and traffic navigation. • Sweeping speed of up to 12 km/hr. • Vacuum-based debris collection system. • Autonomous docking and hopper emptying. • Remote monitoring and control. A high-fidelity teleoperation system has been developed by NTU, that enables drivers to operate the AESV and other heavy-duty vehicles remotely (from an off-site location) in a simple and realistic manner. • Cybersecurity functions. THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER May 2022
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