Robotics & Autonomy On real roads since 2016.

Machines that sense, decide and act in the physical world: autonomous vehicles, robots and physical automation. It comes out of REKA’s applied R&D, starting with Malaysia’s first self-driving car on open roads, and it lives in Kinetik, REKA’s autonomy division.

We do not chase drive-anywhere. We engineer autonomy that runs and pays inside a known domain, on an open, auditable stack, with a person always one step away.

Read the self-driving car storySee the autonomy research
REKA archive photograph. Malaysia Autoshow 2017 outdoor vehicle demonstration, ARCH-087

What we work on

Every part of a machine that drives itself, from the board it runs on to the person who takes over at the edge of its domain.

REKA archive photograph. CRETA retrofit wiring, ARCH-066Autonomous vehicles on open roads

CRETA MK I, 2016: a retrofit kit for an ordinary car, a Proton Waja, with one webcam, and motors, servos and REKA’s own electronics, including its RIG board, on the wheel and pedals. It drove from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur on the PLUS Highway with no one in the driver’s seat.

The case study →
REKA archive photograph. Actual people and test vehicle at Malaysia Autoshow 2023The open Autoware stack

We build on Autoware, so every layer can be opened, examined and replaced, and we tune it for the region’s roads, weather and traffic. On the stack since 2021, a member of the Autoware Foundation since 2024.

The full stack →
AI-generated illustration. Unique newly generated illustrative scene: Wide editorial photograph of a fictional Malaysian operator at a practical vehicle teleoperation research desk, hands resting near a simple unbranded control wheel and emergency-stop button. Monitor angled away from camera so no software screen content is visible, a small test vehicle softly visible through a workshop window. Contemporary modest engineering setting, not a named product or real deployment. Not actual REKA staff, a named client or deployment evidence.Teleoperation and remote operation

Teleoperation is a designed layer, not a failure mode. The machine hands over cleanly at the edge of its domain to a remote operator. Our 2022 MoU with Elmlab covers connectivity and teleoperation.

On remote operations →
AI-generated illustration. Unique newly generated illustrative scene: Wide realistic research demonstration setting inside a generic container yard: a plain terminal tractor with a small roof sensor pod parked within a coned test lane, no driver visible through closed cab glass. Orange cones, ordinary containers, bright tropical daylight. No personnel on the lane, no moving heavy machinery around people. Illustrative autonomy research, not documentary evidence of a port deployment. Not actual REKA staff, a named client or deployment evidence.Autonomous machines in bounded domains

We start where autonomy already works and pays: yards, ports, farms and fixed routes. Prove it inside a boundary, then widen it. A machine that knows where it stops is one you can make a safety case for.

Domain first →
REKA archive photograph. Actual vehicle computing rack at Malaysia Autoshow 2023; not a telematics installationFleets and telematics

Motion, telematics and fleet management built first for autonomous and remote-controlled vehicles, carries this work forward. It is a closed pilot at AntaraX, the product company created from REKA research.

Mobility & automotive →
REKA archive photograph. Distinct actual RIG equipment photo from 24 April 2017, not a renamed/cropped development-board image.From the car to everything else

The sensors and edge computing built for the car became PLExyz. Its computer vision and AI inference were repurposed to read patterns in business data. Its telemetry and real-time systems became our automation work. Robotics and autonomy research stays with Kinetik.

Sensing & Data →

Not a roadmap. A record.

REKA has been building autonomous technology in Malaysia since 2016, before most programmes here existed.

On the record

  1. 2016Malaysia’s first self-driving car, and the first in Southeast Asia on public highways: Melaka to Kuala Lumpur
  2. 2017MK II and MK III, with MIDA, NanoMalaysia and MARA; public rides at the Malaysia Autoshow with MARii; shown at NICE Expo with MARA and MARA Corp
  3. 2021We start building on the open-source Autoware stack
  4. 2022An MoU with Elmlab on connectivity and teleoperation
  5. 2023An autonomous test bed at the Malaysia Autoshow, after testing on a Cyberjaya route
  6. 2024REKA joins the Autoware Foundation as a member
Melaka to Kuala Lumpur, 2016 The 2016 drive from Melaka north to Kuala Lumpur on the PLUS Highway, with no one in the driver’s seat: CRETA MK I, a Proton Waja that saw the road through one webcam, steered and driven by motors, servos and REKA’s own electronics. The route’s shape is illustrative. PLUS Highway Kuala Lumpur Melaka CRETA MK Ia Proton Wajaone webcam, RIG board 2016no one in the driver’s seat Melaka to Kuala Lumpur, 2016 The 2016 drive from Melaka north to Kuala Lumpur on the PLUS Highway, with no one in the driver’s seat: CRETA MK I, a Proton Waja that saw the road through one webcam, steered and driven by motors, servos and REKA’s own electronics. The route’s shape is illustrative. PLUS Highway Kuala Lumpur Melaka CRETA MK Ia Proton Wajaone webcam, RIG board 2016no one in the driver’s seat

ReadoutMelaka to Kuala Lumpur on the PLUS Highway, 2016. Hover or tap a place to read it.

Case study · CRETAHow REKA put Malaysia’s first self-driving car on open roads

A Proton Waja with one webcam and REKA’s own electronics. Then a Proton Inspira courtesy of MIDA, and two Proton Perdanas from NanoMalaysia and MARA, with LiDAR, radar and more cameras.

Read the case study
The operating domain: in domain, at the boundary, out of domain Three zones. In domain the machine is autonomous, and every decision is logged and auditable. At the boundary, control transfers to a remote operator over the teleoperation layer. Out of domain, the machine comes to a safe stop. Prove it inside a boundary, then widen it. Out of domainsafe stop At the boundaryoperator assist In domainautonomous, logged, auditable Prove it inside a boundary, then widen it. teleoperation Remote operatora human is alwaysone step away The operating domain: in domain, at the boundary, out of domain Three zones. In domain the machine is autonomous, and every decision is logged and auditable. At the boundary, control transfers to a remote operator over the teleoperation layer. Out of domain, the machine comes to a safe stop. Prove it inside a boundary, then widen it. Out of domainsafe stop At the boundaryoperator assist In domainautonomous, logged, auditable Prove it inside a boundary,then widen it. teleoperation Remote operatora human is always one step away
Seth Linton, REKA's Systems Cartographer, scanning

SETHAutonomy is only trustworthy if it knows where it stops.

ReadoutHover or tap a zone to read what happens there.

The Lab · Autonomous DrivingAutonomy that knows where it stops

The approach, the seven-layer stack, the driving loop and the specifications, with an honest view of what ships now and what is still the bet.

Visit the Lab
AI-generated illustration. Unique newly generated illustrative scene: Close-up editorial still life of a generic unbranded automotive diagnostic connector, neatly coiled cable and plain sealed data-logger enclosure on a clean neutral engineering workbench. No actual car, no technician, no showroom, no client identity, no screen or text, no specific product. Neutral automotive connectivity detail, not documentary evidence of a client service-bay deployment. Not actual REKA staff, a named client or deployment evidence.Illustrative detail · not a project photoIndustryMobility & automotive

Autonomous systems and connected vehicles, and what the press wrote in 2016 and 2017.

See the industry REKA archive photograph. Historical studio working scene, 2015 filename; not a car-workshop photographOur storyThat car built everything that came after

From a design studio in 2013 to a car that drove itself three years later, and what followed.

Read our story REKA archive photograph. A distinct genuine capture from the matching Malaysia Autoshow 2023 article, not the homepage ARCH-057 photo.Article · 19 May 2023MARii and REKA show autonomous vehicle technology at the Malaysia Autoshow 2023Read the article

We have worked with the Autoware Foundation and TIER IV on autonomous systems, and with MARii, Elmlab, MIDA, NanoMalaysia and MARA on vehicles in Malaysia. Who we work with →

  • Autoware
  • TIER IV
  • MARii
  • Elmlab
  • NanoMalaysia

How to work with us on it

Robotics and autonomy are what we work on. These are the three ways in.

AI-generated illustration. Unique newly generated illustrative scene: Two fictional Malaysian adult professionals wearing appropriate hard hats, reflective vests and safety shoes stand in a marked pedestrian refuge of an empty container-yard lane, reviewing a printed route sketch with unreadable markings. An operations manager points along the route while an engineer listens, no heavy equipment moving near them. Natural afternoon light, medium-wide human-focused framing. Not actual REKA staff, a named client or deployment evidence.
Intelligent Automation

Automate the operation around the machine, and with Managed AI we keep it running for you: hosted, monitored and improved, with a remote operator in the loop where judgement matters.

Service Consulting & Advisory

An honest view of where advanced autonomy applies to your site now, which domain to start in, and what has to be true before a machine runs on its own.

Service Custom Build & R&D

Robotic and autonomous machines designed for your environment and tested in it, from sensors and edge hardware to the stack, as a build or a longer R&D partnership.

Service

Other capabilities

Sensing & Data

The physical world, made measurable, privately.

Harmonik AI & Enterprise Systems

Applied AI, software and optimisation.

Heuristik Digital Transformation (DX)

Change that people actually use.

Esoterik All capabilities

The four divisions, and how each one works with you.

Overview