Remote-controlled road sweeper tests begin in Sentosa

Scientists at NTU Singapore have developed a high-fidelity teleoperation system that enables drivers to operate heavy-duty vehicles remotely (from an off-site location) in a simple and realistic manner.The NTU teleoperation system is among the first batch of projects being tested in Sentosa, under the government-led 5G public sector trials on the resort island announced on Tuesday (19 Oct).  

Using a road sweeper that was previously developed as part of the Autonomous Environmental Service Vehicle R&D project under the National Environment Agency’s Environmental Robotics Programme, the tests will tap on 5G connectivity to send video feed from the sweeper to an operator located elsewhere in real-time.

If successful, the trial could pave the way for several vehicles to be deployed with just one remote operator as the safety emergency driver for all in the future, saving on manpower.