Minister of science, technology and innovation Datuk Seri Adham Baba today launched the NanoMalaysia Autonomous Vehicle (NAVi) and NAVi-D (Delivery). Developing Level 4 autonomous vehicles in Malaysia is an initiative under MOSTI via its agency NanoMalaysia.
NAVi is for the transportation sector while the NAVi-D has systems that fulfil the needs of the last mile delivery sector. NAVi-D is an evolution of NAVi that focuses on food and parcel delivery. Besides supporting innovation and the acceptance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), NAVi also aims to manage the rate and cause of accidents in Malaysia, which is on the rise, MOSTI says.
The science, technology and innovation ministry will also organise a start-up project under the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) in an effort to raise the standard of road safety via a series of tests in a controlled and safe area. NTIS is a facility run by MOSTI that allows researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs to test their products and services in a live environment and qualify for grants to bring those products/services to market.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the world to step into the era of digitalisation. From here, there’s a high demand to reduce touch in interactions. This is in line with MOSTI’s ‘High Tech, Low Touch’ initiative,” Adham said. He added that a spillover of the development of this industry is the rise in the demand for tech jobs such as software and hardware development, as well mechatronic engineers needed to build NAVi.
CEO of NanoMalaysia Rezal Khairi Ahmad said that the passenger transport sector will be the medium to long term goal for every party and the use of NAVi commercially is a smart move. “NAVi will create a smoother delivery system with a reduced accident rate from human error, saving time in the process.”
NAVI is currently undergoing testing in Technology Park Malaysia (TPM), Bukit Jalil. A 12 km route in Phases 1 to 3 of TPM will be the path for autonomous vehicles, and infrastructure such as road signs, sign boards, central command centre and 5G connectivity will be set up there.
Click here to learn more about the levels in autonomous driving, from 1 to 5.
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