Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. announced today that the new Serena, scheduled to go on sale in late August, will come equipped with the company’s ProPILOT autonomous drive technology, offering convenience and peace of mind during highway mobility.

 

ProPILOT

ProPILOT is a revolutionary autonomous drive technology designed for highway use in single-lane traffic.
Nissan is the first Japanese automaker to introduce a combination of steering, accelerator and braking that can be operated in full automatic mode, easing driver workload in heavy highway traffic and long commutes.

Employing advanced image-processing technology, the car’s ProPILOT system understands road and traffic situations and executes precise steering enabling the vehicle to perform naturally.
ProPILOT technology is extremely user-friendly, thanks to a switch on the steering wheel that allows the driver to easily activate and deactivate the system. 

 

System Configuration

The accelerator, brakes and steering are controlled based on information obtained through a mono camera equipped with advanced-image processing software. The ProPILOT camera can quickly recognize in three-dimensional depth both preceding vehicles and lane markers.

 

Functions

Once activated, ProPILOT automatically controls the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, using a speed preset by the driver. The system also keeps the car in the middle of the highway lane by reading lane markers and controlling steering, even through curves.

 

Making Zero Fatalities a Reality

Nissan is proactively working on vehicle intelligence and vehicle electrification to make its corporate visions of “Zero Emissions” and “Zero Fatalities” a reality. Under “Nissan Intelligent Mobility”, ProPILOT promotes safety and instills confidence in drivers, and it is part of “Nissan Intelligent Driving”.
 

ProPILOT will be introduced into other vehicles, including the Qashqai in Europe in 2017. There are also plans for the technology to be introduced in the U.S. and China markets. A multi-lane autonomous driving technology will enable automatic lane changes on highways and is planned for introduction in 2018 while autonomous driving on urban roads and in intersections is planned for launch in 2020.

 

Read the full press release here.