The future of autonomous cars is something Nissan has been taking very seriously, and to show just how committed it is, the automaker has officially teamed up with NASA for a five-year research and development project centered on autonomous vehicles. Through this partnership, Nissan hopes to dive into the depths of autonomy and begin testing autonomous cars by the end of 2015.
To get Nissan on its way to developing production model autonomous cars, trucks and SUVs, the brand's U.S. Silicon Valley Research Center will be working with NASA's Ames Research Center to test different autonomous-related technologies, such as human-interface solutions, network-enabled applications, autonomous drive systems and software. A fleet of zero-emission autonomous cars at Ames will be used to test and analyze these components. Testing will begin right before 2016 and eventually lead to the development of production ready autonomous cars in 2020.
"The work of NASA and Nissan - with one directed to space and the other directed to earth, is connected by similar challenges," said Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO of Nissan Motor Co. "The partnership will accelerate Nissan's development of safe, secure and reliable autonomous drive technology… "
Nissan's collaboration with NASA will not only benefit autonomous cars, it will also aid space exploration. Knowledge gained from the venture will be used in future aeronautic initiatives and other NASA-driven projects.
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