Denso to open new Tokyo facility for automated driving technology

Denso Corporation is to establish a new facility at Haneda Airport in Tokyo to develop and test automated driving technologies.

The facility, which is expected to be complete by June 2020, will feature a building and proving ground for mobility systems R&D.

This announcement follows Denso’s establishment of its Global R&D Tokyo facility in April 2018, an automated driving R&D office near Shinagawa Station in Minato City, Tokyo, to promote collaboration and open innovation with its development partners, which include automakers, universities, research institutes and startups.

The new facility will include a building to develop prototypes and maintain test vehicles, and also a proving ground to conduct live, in-vehicle tests.

This will enable Denso to take an integrated approach to the development of automated driving in Tokyo as the new facility at Haneda Airport can develop and test prototypes based on automated driving technology planned, researched and developed by Global R&D Tokyo in Shinagawa.

The Haneda area is designated a National Strategic Special Zone, where a regulatory sandbox system* is in force to allow for field tests of advanced mobility technologies on public roads, including automated driving.

Additionally, the Haneda area in Ota City is a hotbed for developers, startups and manufacturers of new-age technologies and applications for a wide range of use. Denso will use the National Strategic Special Zone system and work with manufacturers in Ota City to develop and test prototypes more seamlessly and speed development of automated driving technology.

* Regulatory sandbox system
A system to create a controlled environment without existing regulations where a limited number of project participants can verify their innovations including new technologies during a limited period of time, in order to collect data to rapidly obtain test results and determine if regulatory reform is needed.