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- Mar 6, 2011
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Nissan and NASA are aiming to conquer earth and space with their own fleet of self-driving cars.
The two companies have entered a five-year deal that will eventually produce a line of zero-emission autonomous vehicles.
According to Wired, the project is being considered an "R&D effort" and will mostly be headquartered at NASA's Ames Research Center.
Unlike other self-driving cars we've seen so far, Nissan and NASA's effort will be designed to operate on earth as well as distant planets in space.
NASA recruited Nissan so it could eventually add that autonomy to its space vehicles, which need to drive better independently as the space agency investigates more dangerous locations.
Meanwhile Nissan has apparently been testing self-driving car technology for a while on its own Nissan Leaf, but has failed to produce a worthy prototype.
By combining forces, the two companies hope to create a system that's both fast and smart enough to adapt to urban environments which have changing variables such as pedestrians and construction.
"This is a perfect blend of the capability of what the robotics folks at NASA Ames have and the autonomy that we bring," says Maarten Sierhuis, the director of Nissan's Silicon Valley research center, who also spent ten years as a NASA senior scientist.
"The timing is right because we are ready to start testing" the ability to autonomously navigate city streets.
Nissan and NASA plan to have an actual car on the road by the end of 2015, with mass production kicking off around 2020.
Source: t3.com
The two companies have entered a five-year deal that will eventually produce a line of zero-emission autonomous vehicles.
According to Wired, the project is being considered an "R&D effort" and will mostly be headquartered at NASA's Ames Research Center.
Unlike other self-driving cars we've seen so far, Nissan and NASA's effort will be designed to operate on earth as well as distant planets in space.
NASA recruited Nissan so it could eventually add that autonomy to its space vehicles, which need to drive better independently as the space agency investigates more dangerous locations.
Meanwhile Nissan has apparently been testing self-driving car technology for a while on its own Nissan Leaf, but has failed to produce a worthy prototype.
By combining forces, the two companies hope to create a system that's both fast and smart enough to adapt to urban environments which have changing variables such as pedestrians and construction.
"This is a perfect blend of the capability of what the robotics folks at NASA Ames have and the autonomy that we bring," says Maarten Sierhuis, the director of Nissan's Silicon Valley research center, who also spent ten years as a NASA senior scientist.
"The timing is right because we are ready to start testing" the ability to autonomously navigate city streets.
Nissan and NASA plan to have an actual car on the road by the end of 2015, with mass production kicking off around 2020.
Source: t3.com