ENWAY receives approval for Autonomous Sweepers on public roads in Singapore
ENWAY, a Berlin-based software manufacturer for self-driving commercial vehicles and the Swiss sweeper manufacturer Bucher Municipal, along with other partners, been testing an autonomous sweeping solution for street cleaning in Singapore to support Singapore’s efforts towards ecological mobility.
Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) begins trial runs of autonomous road sweepers on public roads to make the city-state cleaner and more sustainable. The autonomous compact sweeper “Donner”, developed by a consortium led by ENWAY and Bucher Municipal, has passed the Land Transport Authority’s approval test for autonomous vehicles for use on public roads.
“Donner” is based on the fully electric CityCat 2020ev model from Bucher Municipal. In collaboration with Nanyang Technological University, SembWaste Pte Ltd and Wong Fong
Engineering Works (1988) Pte Ltd. The Singapore team adapted ENWAY’s technology for public use.
The project is part of NEA’s ongoing efforts to drive innovation and diffusion of technology, as well as improve productivity across the environmental services industry. The use of autonomous technologies in the field of street cleaning is intended to improve productivity in utility operations and optimize road use.
The project is supported by the National Robotics Program Office as part of the Autonomous Environmental Service Vehicles for Singapore grant.
The self-propelled cleaning robots are monitored remotely during their use via a tele-operations centre, where cleaning routes and times are determined and adjusted if necessary.
During the trial operations, the autonomous sweepers must have a safety driver on board, according to the strict operating protocols. Tests on public roads are carried out step by step and increased to regular times in which the autonomous sweeper cleans in parallel with daily traffic.
ENWAY was founded in Berlin at the beginning of 2017 and has 35 employees in Berlin and Singapore. The company developed a technology platform for high-precision autonomous work machines, with which sweepers clean factories or large warehouses independently.
In the municipal sector, ENWAY supports street cleaners with autonomous machines. The vehicles react dynamically to changes and obstacles. ENWAY cooperates with established companies and integrates the technology for autonomous operation into existing machines.
