Nissan test car drives itself safely, recognizes pedestrians

Latest Update: November 3, 2015 | 247 Views

TOKYO: Being a passenger in a self-driving car is similar to being driven around by a very cautious person, maybe your grandmother.





It always stayed within the speed limit. And it slowed down, appearing to be “thinking” at slightly complicated situations, such as cars coming from another lane. The system is designed to recognize people and if a pedestrian jumped out onto the road, the car should come to a stop.



The car experienced by The Associated Press is still unable to deal with unexpected situations, such as moving to the side of the road if an ambulance approaches. At one point, the human driver, who was in the seat for the whole test ride, had to intervene because the car didn’t properly recognize an unclearly drawn lane.

Otherwise, it did fine.


When compared with a human, Nissan’s prototype is only 3 or 4 years old, maybe 6 at most, and the goal is to help it mature to a 20-year-old, he said.

“It’s like a kid,” said Iijima, emulating a child walking slowly, a step at a time. “We need to make it understand the world — the severe world.”

The system was shown in Nissan’s Leaf electric vehicle, meaning it was not only intelligent but also zero-emission.

Its trunk space was filled with electronics and wiring, evidence of the computer technology needed to integrate the information from the car’s many sensors, radars and 360-degree cameras.


Jeremy Carlson, senior analyst at IHS Automotive, who is an expert on autonomous driving, praised Nissan for having “a clear roadmap” for the technology it was working on.

“Nissan’s plans to successively deploy piloted drive technologies keep the automaker at or near the leading edge of the industry in driver assistance technology both in Japan and worldwide,” he said.


Nissan plans to tailor the feature to various markets.

In the U.S., where there tends to be long driving on highways, a feature that might work like an enhanced auto-cruise would be handy.


“We think we are a leader,” Iijima said. “Please compare the prototypes.”



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