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Nissan has successfully developed a new autonomous system that is designed to offer hands-free driving capabilities at high speeds. The technology, ProPilot, will be offered in the U.S., but is making its initial debut in Japan on the new Nissan Serena minivan.
Designed specifically for single-lane highway use, Nissan ProPilot is equipped to offer hands-free driving during long commutes and heavy traffic, taking stress off of drivers. It works by utilizing a mono camera equipped with image-processing technology that can understand roads, detect traffic, and identify preceding cars and lane markers. From the information provided by the mono camera, ProPilot can determine whether to accelerate, brake and steer the vehicle.
While still in its early stages, Nissan plans to add new features to ProPilot within the next few years. By 2018, the system will be able to carry out automatic lane changes on highways, and in 2020 it will be ready to handle urban roads and intersections.
If you’re not yet comfortable with the idea of autonomous technology, don’t worry. ProPilot can be activated or deactivated with just the press of a button on the car’s steering wheel. There’s no word as to when we’ll officially see the tech on U.S. models, but we encourage you to check back on our blog for future updates.