Nissan, NASA to develop autonomous cars

Nissan Motor Company, through its North American-based organisation, and NASA have announced the formation of a five-year research and development partnership to advance autonomous vehicle systems and prepare for commercial application of the technology. Researchers from Nissan's US Silicon Valley research centre and NASA's Ames research centre will focus on autonomous drive systems, human-machine interface solutions, network-enabled applications, and software analysis and verification, all involving sop
January 12, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
838 Nissan Motor Company, through its North American-based organisation, and NASA have announced the formation of a five-year research and development partnership to advance autonomous vehicle systems and prepare for commercial application of the technology.

Researchers from Nissan's US Silicon Valley research centre and NASA's Ames research centre will focus on autonomous drive systems, human-machine interface solutions, network-enabled applications, and software analysis and verification, all involving sophisticated hardware and software used in road and space applications.

Researchers from the two organisations will test a fleet of zero-emission autonomous vehicles at Ames to demonstrate proof-of-concept remote operation of autonomous vehicles for the transport of materials, goods, payloads and people. For NASA, these tests parallel the way it operates planetary rovers from a mission control centre. The first vehicle of that fleet should be testing at the facility by the end of 2015.

"The work of NASA and Nissan, with one directed to space and the other directed to earth, is connected by similar challenges," said Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan. "The partnership will accelerate Nissan's development of safe, secure and reliable autonomous drive technology that we will progressively introduce to consumers beginning in 2016 up to 2020."

Nissan has set 2020 as the timeframe for the introduction of autonomous drive vehicles that have the ability to navigate in nearly all situations, including the most complex situation, city driving.

"All of our potential topics of research collaboration with Nissan are areas in which Ames has strongly contributed to major NASA programs," said director of Ames research centre, S. Pete Worden. "Ames developed Mars rover planning software, robots onboard the international space station and next generation air traffic management systems to name a few. We look forward to applying knowledge developed during this partnership toward future space and aeronautics endeavours."

"This partnership brings together the best and brightest of NASA and Nissan and validates our investments in Silicon Valley," said Ghosn.
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • GM to start autonomous vehicle manufacturing and testing in Michigan
    December 16, 2016
    Following the signing of the SAVE Act legislation to support autonomous vehicle testing and deployment in Michigan, General Motors is to begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. GM also announced it will produce the next generation of its autonomous test vehicles at its Orion Township assembly plant beginning in early 2017. Testing is already underway on GM’s Technical Center campus in Warren, Michigan and will now expand to public roads on the facility’s outskirts. Within the next few months,
    Read More
  • Securing V2X communications
    June 6, 2016
    Cybersecurity developments are moving fast in the automotive sector, but they’re a significant hurdle for the roll-out of C-ITS applications. Jon Masters reports. In the wake of the high-profile hacking of the Jeep Cherokee and problems like the flaw in the Nissan Leaf’s companion app that could compromise the security of data about recent journeys, initiatives linked to vehicle cybersecurity seem to be moving rapidly.
    Read More
  • Automobile industry explores passenger car connectivity
    December 10, 2014
    The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) has brought together key industry stakeholders and policy makers to review the opportunities and challenges related to passenger car connectivity. The conference explored how automotive connectivity technologies could revolutionise personal mobility, as well as examining some of the challenges faced in rolling out connected cars. ACEA president Carlos Ghosn, European Commissioner for Digital Society and Economy Günther Oettinger, and Director Gene
    Read More
  • New York launches electric taxi pilot
    April 23, 2013
    To celebrate Earth Day, Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the Nissan Leaf, putting six Leaf taxis into service to help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets. As part of the pilot, Nissan and partners in New York City will also install several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during
    Read More

Highlighted Content