Event / Awards
Innovation Awards 2013 Winners
CEATEC 2013 INNOVATION AWARDS "as selected by US Journalists"
Autonomous Drive Vehicle
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Autonomous cars will potentially provide a wealth of benefits to society. They can reduce the risk of accidents and fatalities. A recent KPMG study indicated that a crashless-future, with all cars featuring active safety measures to prevent accidents, could result in 30,000 lives save every year.
Smart cars can also save fuel by controlling acceleration and speed better than human drivers. They will even help us save time: by talking among each other and examining data in the cloud, autonomous cars can find and select routes that avoid traffic jams.
The challenge is, and always has been, the scope of the problem. Cars must operate in an unpredictable, ever-changing environment with moving objects, people and pets. Ten years ago, some of the world's most prestigious universities competed to make self-driving cars that could drive themselves through a desert course. Only a few finished.
Flash forward to 2013. Earlier this year, Nissan announced it would bring autonomous cars to market by 2020. Although skepticism abounds, the demonstration of the Nissan Autonomous Car at Ceatec is a strong, early start. Nissan's car drove itself through a three-lap course where it had to perceive a stop sign and stop, pass a parked car, and determine that it had the time and speed to get through an intersection before another car approaching the intersection would arrive at the same spot.
While the car drove along a preprogrammed route, it functioned in an autonomous manner. The car made choices about when to proceed or pass through an on-board computer that based its decisions upon real-time data being gathered by the embedded radar systems, cameras and laser systems. Nissan's car, in other words, was making the same sort of decisions that human drivers make every day. It was not a drone following a track.
Even though it drove on a controlled track, the underlying capabilities indicated that real-world driving may not be far away. The radar system can "see" obstacles 200 meters in advance of the car. The laser sensors can detect objects in an 80 meter perimeter around the car. Blue and red LED indicator lights on the rear view mirror and steering wheel keep drivers informed about decisions the car has made.
The Autonomous car builds on research conducted by Nissan over the last several years. Nissan demonstrated prototype robots in 2009 at Ceatec designed to travel together while avoiding collisions. Some of the algorithms were inspired by the way fish and birds could move together in close proximity. In 2012, Nissan showed off the NSC-2015, a car that could park itself and send messages to an owner's cell phone.
Nissan will not be alone in the autonomous car market for long. Other companies have announced plans to embed greater intelligence and machine control into their offerings. Component makers and software developers see the car as an expanding frontier. Automotive technologies were some of the most compelling exhibits at Ceatec this year. Google, of course, has also developed an autonomous car.
- Exhibit Information
- NISSAN MOTOR CO.,LTD
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In 2013, mobility is a major theme at CEATEC, with vehicle demonstrations taking up a large portion of the show floor. Attendeesare able to see and, in many cases, drive concept vehicles that may not be available to the public for many years to come. Many exhibitors also displayed in-car technologies that could change the way we interact with our vehicles in the future, whether it be infotainment systems that better react to our voice or heads-up displays that allowus to stay better-focused on the road ahead.
We were impressed by many products on the show floor from many manufacturers. One that stood out was ALPS Electric Co., creating a miniaturized bidirectional DC/DC converter. This advancement has huge implications for future vehicles. With greater demands for energy efficiency and safety going forward, components like this, which are smaller and lighter, will be more important than ever in the future.
Additionally, Toyota's Winglet device brought a smile to the face of many judges. This is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal mobility vehicle with many potential applications in the future. It's lightweight, quick to charge, fast enough to be usable, and, mostimportantly, fun to ride.
The demonstration that impressed the most was Nissan's Autonomous Drive Vehicle. This specially-modified Nissan Leaf EV is able to find its way to a pre-programmed destination without any input from the driver. With cameras and laser scanners, the vehicle safely navigatesaround any obstacle that appears in its path. The car also obeys traffic signs and road markings, safely cruising at speeds up to 70KMph. Though this technology is still years away from appearing in production vehicles able to be purchased by consumers, the demonstration by Nissan shows that the company is working to ensure its vehicles are ready for an autonomous future. Autonomous vehicles will radically change the way that people travel, drastically improving safety and efficiency. A recent KPMG study indicated that a crashless-future, with all cars featuring active safety measures to prevent accidents, could result in 30,000 lives saved every year.
Additionally, autonomous vehicles would be able to drive more efficiently, accelerating and braking properly thanks to greater knowledge of the road ahead, also driving faster on highways, thus reducing the amount of time wasted commuting. The benefits are many, and we look forward to Nissan applying this technology to its future vehicles on the road.
