NASA technology speeds up the autonomous driving – the Observer

The already "unavoidable" Consumer Electronics Show, a trade fair of electronics almost become a motor show futuristic, was the stage chosen by Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan, to reveal the various new technologies and partnerships that will help the sector to progress towards a future in which the cars are totally "clean" and do not cause any fatality. For example, to speed up the arrival of autonomous vehicles, has announced a new solution, name of Mobility, stand-alone Simple (SAM), developed from NASA technology.

Combining artificial intelligence with the human support, the SAM you want to allow the vehicles to make certain decisions in situations of danger, at the same time that they build their own artificial intelligence. How? Whenever the vehicle encounters something unexpected, and does not know how to proceed, then you can use a "manager of mobility" – someone who is sitting on a sort of call center and that, by examining the images and data collected by the sensors of the vehicle, decides what is the best way of dealing with the situation in concrete. Not only does the system "learn", to a situation in the future know immediately how to act, how this learning can be shared automatically with an entire fleet.

This solution, inserted in the concept of Smart Integration Nissan, should allow, in a relatively short space of time, automobiles stand-alone can co-exist with the drivers human – without a doubt one of the major concerns when you think about the effective implementation of the driving fully autonomous.

Carlos Ghosn did still know that the Nissan and DeNA, an Internet company, will soon start testing development of cars without driver for business use. The first phase will start already this year, in areas of Japan specifically for this type of experience, so that, in 2020, this technology can already be tested, for commercial purposes, in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Guaranteed was that the next-generation Leaf will have the system ProPilot, premiered recently on the Nissan Serena sold in Japan, and capable of ensuring the autonomous driving on the motorway, but only in a single lane. As for the vehicles connected, was the assurance that the Renault-Nissan Alliance will continue to work with Microsoft on the next generation of this technology, especially in the personal assistant Cortana, which is intended to make more simple and productive the task of driving.

finally, to support the policies and planning needed for the integration of these technologies in the cities of the future, the alliance franco-japanese company has established a partnership with the "100 Resilient Cities" (100RC), a nonprofit organization created by the Rockefeller Foundation with the aim of helping cities to develop solutions to the new challenges the physical, social, and economic that lie ahead. The first partner of the automotive sector of the institution, the Nissan and the 100RC will work to help cities build the foundation for the implementation of autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles and new mobility services.