Nissan ProPilot & Autonomous Driving

Sep 2, 2016

Nissan Autonomous Driving

Nissan has always been among the most exciting car companies and a recent groundbreaking announcement pushes the excitement to dizzying new levels. In July, Nissan announced that they will release an automobile – the Nissan Serena – that will be equipped with their cutting edge ProPilot autonomous drive system.

You read that right. Nissan is introducing a vehicle that will be able to drive itself.

Not for All Driving Conditions

The Nissan Serena went for sale in late August 2016 in Japan. The ProPilot system has been designed to drive itself autonomously on the highway – but only in single-lane traffic. The vehicle’s braking, acceleration and steering can all be operated by the ProPilot system in fully automatic mode. Or, when the driver prefers, he can shut it off using a switch on the steering wheel, and drive normally.

Nissan hopes that the system will ease the stress and burden of longer commutes in heavy traffic. The system makes use of advanced image processing technology to read everything from road conditions to traffic, allowing the Serena to flawlessly steer itself, operating much as the vehicle would if driven by an alert driver. The entire system is deceptively simple to use and includes an easy-to-operate and understand driver interface.

So, How Does It Work?

There are six major components to the system. They include:

ECM-module that controls the throttle
EPS-module that controls the steering
VDC-module that controls the brakes
Front camera-located near the top of the windshield
Electric Parking Brake-holds the vehicle in the stopped position when needed
ADAS ECU-receives information from the front camera and controls the other units based on that information

Nissan Serena interior

Essentially, the camera is equipped to “see” in three dimensions and to process the information faster than the human brain can, reacting to other vehicles, lane markers, traffic conditions and more. The ProPilot ensures that the Nissan Serena maintains its distance from other vehicles in traffic based on speed (this is input by the driver and can vary from 30 km/hr to 100 km/hr… roughly 20 mph to 60 mph).

Here’s What It Can Do

This isn’t the first time autonomous driving has been tested, but the fact that it will actually be available for everyday drivers makes it arguably the most exciting. When a driver turns ProPilot on in the Nissan Serena and sets the speed, here’s what it can do:

Follows the vehicle in front of it – ProPilot makes sure the correct distance is maintained.
Stays in your lane – ProPilot makes use of the lane markers to maintain its lane.
Stop – if the vehicle in front stops, ProPilot will stop the Nissan Serena.
Stop-Hold – Nissan Serena will stay stopped until the driver re-activates the system or accelerates.
Handle curves – ProPilot steers, keeping the Serena on the road, even around curves.
Recognizes when vehicle ahead changes lanes – ProPilot stays in its own lane and simply starts following the next car in front of it.
Allows for Cut-Ins – when a vehicle switches into your lane, ProPilot makes adjustments and maintains distance with that car.

When Will We See It In The States

No definitive timeframe has been announced for releasing ProPilot in the US yet, but keep your ears open. When it happens, it may happen quickly (they announced it in July in Japan and started making them available in august). Currently, Nissan is making careful studies of the driving conditions in many of their markets to determine if and how the ProPilot can be adapted. Additionally, Nissan is working on a multi-lane autonomous driving technology, such as would likely be needed for use in the United States. They expect to introduce that technology in 2018 with further plans to release technology that allows for autonomous driving on city streets with intersections in 2020.