Nissan has announced that it's planning to introduce an advanced new autonomous driving system as soon as 2027 - or, to be more precise, the company's 'Financial Year 2027', which does, of course, give it slightly more wiggle room, as that carries on into 2028.
What kind of tech are we talking about?
The new self-driving setup is Nissan's most advanced version yet of its ProPilot technology. It relies on clever new LIDAR scanners and artificial intelligence software provided by Wayve.
The LIDAR itself is especially clever. Nissan says that it acts almost like a 3D printer in reverse, creating precise 3D maps of the surrounding area for the car's onboard computers. The system is so accurate that Nissan has called it Ground Truth Perception technology.
How many sensors does this system need?
To allow the car to see and perceive all around it, Nissan fits four side-facing radars, nine surround-view cameras, one forward-facing camera, one long-range rear-facing radar, a front radar, and the LIDAR scanner.
According to Nissan, all of these sensors feed data to the Wayve software, which can then go to work: “Wayve AI Driver software, built on Wayve's embodied AI foundation model, is designed to handle highly complex real-world driving conditions in a human-like manner. The technology's ability to efficiently and rapidly learn from vast amounts of data ensures continuous advantage to Nissan vehicles for the future,” Nissan said in a statement.
How clever is Nissan's tech?
Nissan claims that the system can cope with “instantaneous recognition and decisions” and that it can even avoid objects in mid-air, such as debris that has fallen from a lorry, thanks to the full 3D image that the LIDAR system constantly creates.
"Nissan believes that in the future era of automated driving, driver-assistance technology that can avoid the highly complex accidents that occur in the real world will be essential to ensure customer peace of mind”, said a Nissan spokesperson.