Nissan is the first Japanese automaker to introduce a combination of steering, accelerator and braking that can be operated in full automatic mode, easing driver workload in heavy highway traffic and long commutes.
The accelerator, brakes and steering are controlled based on information obtained through a mono camera equipped with advanced-image processing software.
The ProPILOT camera can quickly recognise data in three-dimensional depth, for both preceding vehicles and lane markers.
ProPILOT technology is extremely user-friendly, thanks to a switch on the steering wheel to easily activate and deactivate the system.
Once activated, ProPILOT automatically controls the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, using a speed preset by the driver (between 30 and 100kph).
The system also keeps the car in the middle of the highway lane by reading lane markers and controlling steering, even through curves.
If a car in front stops, ProPILOT automatically applies the brakes to bring the vehicle to a full stop.
After coming to a full stop, the vehicle will remain in place even if the driver’s foot is off the brake pedal.
When ready to resume driving, ProPILOT is activated when the driver touches the switch again or lightly presses the accelerator.
ProPILOT will be introduced in the Nissan Qashqai in Europe in 2017.
A multi-lane autonomous driving technology will enable automatic lane changes on highways and is planned for introduction in 2018 while autonomous driving on urban roads and in intersections is planned for launch in 2020.
