The auto industry remains staunchly optimistic on how quickly self-driving cars will make it to mass production, and Nissan is no exception.
"It's definitely going to happen," John Martin, senior vice president of manufacturing for Nissan North America, told Auto World News. "We've got tech now that we're testing on vehicles that will be in autonomous cars ... we've got all the elements in place."
Nissan earlier this month announced a collaboration with NASA to conduct joint research and development work during the next five years to focus on autonomous technology. Meanwhile, the automaker has been working on autonomous technology that can let a car recognize elements to navigate an unfamiliar landscape, aiming for systems that benefit "real-world people, from the dumbest to the smartest," Martin said.
"Your car is going to crash [at some point]," Martin said.
He outlined a theoretical scenario where an autonomous vehicle faces the unfortunate task of mitigating damage, at the point when an accident is physically unavoidable. Increasingly complex algorithms that can judge the angle of a potential crash will help vehicles navigate such difficult decisions.
"We're solving huge, complex issues every day with software," Martin said.
Despite potential blockades in public policy, Martin thinks autonomous vehicles will be available at least by 2020, if not sooner. That's an ambitious target, even given General Motors' goal to introduce its own pseudo-autonomous system, Super Cruise, on a Cadillac by 2017. Mercedes-Benz already has the workings of autonomous functions in its latest-generation C- and S-class models, and Hyundai's driver assistance technology is not far behind.
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