IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Nissan Motor Co.,
Ltd. today announced that the company will be ready with multiple,
commercially-viable Autonomous Drive vehicles by 2020. Nissan
announced that the company's engineers have been carrying out
intensive research on the technology for years, alongside teams
from the world's top universities, including MIT, Stanford,
Oxford, Carnegie
Mellon and the University of
Tokyo.
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Work is already underway in Japan to build a dedicated autonomous driving
proving ground, to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2014.
Featuring real townscapes - masonry not mock-ups - it will be used
to push vehicle testing beyond the limits possible on public roads
to ensure the technology is safe.
Nissan's autonomous driving will be achieved at realistic prices
for consumers. The goal is availability across the model range
within two vehicle generations.
"Nissan Motor Company's willingness to question conventional
thinking and to drive progress – is what sets us apart," said CEO
Carlos Ghosn. "In 2007 I pledged
that – by 2010 – Nissan would mass market a zero-emission vehicle.
Today, the Nissan LEAF is the best-selling electric vehicle in
history. Now I am committing to be ready to introduce a new
ground-breaking technology, Autonomous Drive, by 2020, and we are
on track to realize it."
Nissan is demonstrating the breadth of the capability of its
autonomous drive technology for the first time at Nissan 360, a
huge test drive and stakeholder interaction event being held in
Southern California. Laser
scanners, Around View Monitor cameras, as well as advanced
artificial intelligence and actuators, have been installed in
Nissan LEAFs to enable them to negotiate complex real-world driving
scenarios.
Nissan's autonomous driving technology is an extension of its
Safety Shield, which monitors a 360-degree view around a vehicle
for risks, offers warnings to the driver and takes action if
necessary. It is based on the philosophy that everything required
should be on board the vehicle, rather than relying on detailed
external data. The technology being demonstrated at Nissan 360
means the car could drive autonomously on a highway - sticking to
or changing lanes and avoiding collisions - without a map. It can
also be integrated with a standard in-car navigation system so the
vehicle knows which turns to take to reach its destination.
A revolutionary concept like autonomous drive will have
implications throughout the design and construction of cars. For
example, collision-avoidance by machines with the capability to
react more rapidly and with more complex movements than a human
driver will place new demands on the chassis and traction control.
Nissan is leveraging 80 years of research and development expertise
to create a complete solution for autonomous drive.
A vehicle that looks out for you
Six million crashes in the US per year cost $160 billion and rank as the top reason of death
for four- to 34-year olds. And, 93% of accidents in the US are due
to human error, typically due to inattention.
With Autonomous Drive Nissan has the technology today to detect
and respond to the situations causing this tragedy.
In the future, Autonomous Drive also means less input from the
driver; U.S. drivers average 48 minutes per day on the road --
hundreds of hours a year that could be used more productively.
For the aged or those with disabilities, Autonomous Drive offers
another benefit: true independence and mobility for all.
*Full list of institutions currently involved: AIST（National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology,
Carnegie Mellon University,
Chuo University, Hiroshima University, The University of Iowa, University
of Oxford, Stanford University,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
NAIST (Nara Institute of Science and Technology), Virginia Tech
Transportation Institute, Russian State Scientific Center for
Robotics and Technical Cybernetics, Kyushu
University, Keio University,
Nagoya University, Shinshu
University, Tohoku University, Tokyo Polytechnic University,
Tokyo University of Agriculture and
Technology, UC Berkeley, The University of
Tokyo, University of Tsukuba,
Waseda University, University of
Yamanashi
About Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's
operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and
corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and
manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment
under the Nissan Green Program and has been recognized as an ENERGY
STAR® Partner of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 by the U.S
Environmental Protection Agency. More information on Nissan in
North America and the complete
line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at
www.NissanUSA.com and www.InfinitiUSA.com, or visit the
Americas media sites NissanNews.com and InfinitiNews.com.
About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's
second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the
Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 236,000 employees
globally, Nissan sold more than 4.9 million vehicles and generated
revenue of 9.6 trillion yen
(USD 116.16 billion) in fiscal 2012.
Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of over 60 models under the
Nissan and Infiniti brands. In 2010, Nissan introduced the Nissan
LEAF, and continues to lead in zero-emission mobility. The LEAF,
the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicle launched globally, is
now the best-selling EV in history.
For more information on our products, services and commitment to
sustainable mobility, visit our website at
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/.
SOURCE Nissan Motor Company
