Automotive electronics innovator Desay SV Automotive  has announced it was granted M1 license permits  in Singapore to carry out Autonomous Vehicle (AV) trials for unmanned vehicles within approved One-North test routes under an actual traffic environment.
The Vehicle Safety Assessment (Milestones 1) license  was issued to the company by the Singapore Land Authority of Transport (LTA) and The Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of Autonomous Vehicles (CETRAN) last November.
Singapore is looking to be the leading global hub in the development of autonomous vehicle technology by exploring ways to leverage the latest AV technology for its land transport system.
The launch of CETRAN in August 2016 - a 2-hectare test facility developed by LTA, NTU and JTC -- sees Singapore's efforts to spearhead the development of testing requirements and technology for AVs.
With this enabler, LTA is able to work with partners to deploy new AVs technologies safely on the public roads.
For Desay SV, this is an opportunity as the company chose to set up its first overseas R&D Research Division last year in the city state to exclusively develop frontier technologies in Level 4 and Level 5 vehicle autonomy and automotive cybersecurity in collaboration with the Economic Development Board (EDB).
With the award of M1 license, in Desay SV has successfully passed the first stage road tests (out of three stages), thus allowing its test vehicles to be tested on authorised public road for AVs tests.
Desay SV can look forward to executing its plan to meet the second stage road tests for Milestones 2 license, where Desay SV's test vehicle will be assessed on advanced autonomy technologies and safety on designated public roads.