Tokyo - Nissan and NASA are teaming up to advance the technology behind cars that drive autonomously.
Nissan and NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, have announced five-year research-and-development partnership for autonomous vehicle systems so that they can eventually be applied to commercially sold cars.
Nissan is excited about the potential of self-driving cars, which executives say could lead to improved safety.
NASA researchers will be working with Nissan's research unit in Silicon Valley, they said in a joint statement.
The Japanese carmaker aims to bring autonomous driving technology to market between 2016 and 2020. Ames developed the Mars rover software and robots onboard the International Space Station.
“The partnership brings together the best and brightest of NASA and Nissan and validates our investments in Silicon Valley,” said Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn.
The safety technology in the works includes cars that know through sensors that they are about to collide and will brake automatically, even if the driver doesn't do a thing. It’s likely that these systems will work at much higher speeds than the auto-brake systems already available on numerous cars today. Cars that can completely park themselves are also said to be on the agenda.
At its most sophisticated, the new safety technology that’s being worked on could replace human drivers altogether, though there are many hurdles to that being put into practice on roads.
Other car companies, such as Toyota, GM and Ford, are also working on autonomous technologies, as are companies outside the industry, such as Google.
Sapa-AP