Nissan Leaf Autonomous Prototype goes for on-road testing!

Nissan Leaf Autonomous Drive is the very first self-driving car to complete a public road test on a highway in the Land of the Rising Sun. The Drive Tech handles everything from detecting road conditions to merging into traffic, piloted the car onto the interstate, passed slowpokes and exited the freeway. Surely, this will be a notable milestone for Nissan, but the company goal to sell autos with the technology by 2020 is still a long way off.

Kuala Lumpur: Nissan commenced the testing of a new self-driving vehicle, Nissan Leaf autonomous prototype, not just on isolated private Japanese roads but on inner city roads and highways as well.

Nissan wants to add their piloted drive 1.0 system to its vehicles by the end of 2016 and hope to have a fully automated system that does not require human input by 2020. The larger autonomous driving system has been labeled the Nissan Intelligent Drive.

The first goal of Piloted Drive 1.0 is to permit autonomous driving in crowded highway traffic. Nissan stated that an upgrade is in the works and it will allow cars equipped with Piloted Drive 1.0 to auto-shift from lane to lane on highways. The highway navigation system should be implemented on all smart vehicles by 2018. For drivers who stick to the city streets, Nissan is keen on delivering a technology that can handle intersections autonomously, by 2020.

The company created two innovative components that will help them reach their goal. The first one is a miniature high-spec laser scanner which is currently on a prototype phase. This laser scanner determines the distance between the vehicle and its surroundings through the use of precise three-dimensional measurement, which enables the vehicle to navigate itself through the tightest spaces.

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The other component is an 8-way, 360-degree view camera system that helps the autonomous pilot to make accurate routing decisions when driving through intersections and winding roads. Both of them are fitted on Nissan’s autonomous prototype in order to get them ready for production.

According to the Senior vice president of Nissan, Takao Asami, “We at Nissan are setting clear goals and preparing for the implementation of piloted drive. The prototype that we’re introducing here today is proof of how close we are towards the realization of this goal. Nissan aspires for a safe and trouble-free motoring future, and we plan on leading the industry in the implementation of piloted drive.”

Stay tuned for more news on Nissan’s development of self-driving technology as we learn more about the company’s future plans.

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