Nissan Motor Co. has demonstrated its latest autonomous driving (AD) technology in Yokohama’s Minato Mirai area. The company says its recent testing represents the first time in Japan that a test vehicle with no driver in the car has navigated a public road in a complex urban environment. The OEM is developing its own proprietary technology for a mobility service it plans to launch in Japan.
The tests are being conducted using remote AD systems equivalent to SAE Level 2 automation in line with Japan’s guidelines for deregulation approval for vehicles equipped with remote autonomous driving systems and the criteria for granting permission for road use in demonstration tests of automated driving on public roads. The vehicles are monitored remotely, and a remote driver can take control and drive the vehicles as necessary.
Nissan is maximizing its efforts to establish and verify the safety of AD technology tailored to different traffic conditions worldwide. To do this, it is using insights and technologies gained through research in Japan, research in Silicon Valley conducted by the Nissan Advanced Technology Center, and participation in the UK’s evolvAD project.
The latest test vehicles are based on the Serena — Japan’s top selling minivan — and incorporate 14 cameras, nine radars and six lidar sensors. The roof-mounted sensors offer significantly expanded detection by taking advantage of the height of the Serena and enabling more accurate detection of its surroundings, compared to earlier test vehicles.
In addition, the use of AI has significantly enhanced recognition, behavioral prediction and judgment as well as control, delivering smooth operation in a variety of complex scenarios.
To ensure the utmost safety for the test vehicle demonstration, Nissan engineers verified an extensive number of possible scenarios along the driving route, added an immediate stop function for emergencies, and introduced intentional redundancies.
Since FY17, Nissan has been demonstrating and testing AD technology. Currently, Nissan is planning service demonstration tests involving approximately 20 vehicles to take place in Yokohama in FY25 to FY26; and is building an operational framework and service ecosystem with stakeholders. Leveraging the test results, in FY27 Nissan aims to provide autonomous driving mobility services, in collaboration with municipalities and transportation operators, with remote monitoring.
This initiative will be promoted in close cooperation with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; other government ministries and Yokohama City. The ministries will also promote initiatives to create new autonomous mobility services through their Level 4 Mobility Acceleration Committee.
Nissan will continue to advance its technology while establishing services in Yokohama based on development and verification results both in Japan and abroad.
Interested in Nissan? Check out this exclusive feature first published in the January 2024 issue of ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International on Nissan’s ongoing testing of self-driving vehicles on UK suburban roads as part of its evolvAD project.
