Nissan to develop its ‘most advanced’ driver assistance system to date

Nissan is planning to develop its “most advanced” driver assistance system to date in collaboration with Trimble Technology.

Trimble says that Nissan Motor will use Trimble RTX technology as its high-accuracy positioning source, enabling the hands-off and guided freeway driving capabilities of Toyota’s ProPILOT Assist 2.0 driver assistance system, available initially on the 2023 Nissan Ariya.

While positioning with standard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals may drift up to 10 meters (25 feet), Trimble says its RTX system provides higher accuracy and enables consistent lane determination for driving applications.

This makes Trimble RTX a key component for many of the latest driver assistance systems like the ProPILOT Assist 2.0.

Increasingly being used on freeways, lane-level accuracy via advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), where the driver is still the ultimate decision maker, is a key enabler in the journey to fully autonomous solutions.

Patricia Boothe, general manager, on-road autonomy at Trimble, says: “Trimble has been at the forefront of precise positioning for decades and has served the automotive segment for nearly as long.

“We’ve applied the combination of technology leadership and domain experience to enable more than 30 million miles of confident driving with hands-off driving systems.”

The ProPILOT Assist 2.0 system enables hands-off driving while cruising in a single lane. When the vehicle approaches a road divide, or when passing a slower vehicle is possible, the system judges the appropriate timing of branching off or passing based on information from the navigation system and 360-degree sensing.

Intuitive audio and visual guidance is given to the driver, who is then prompted to put both hands on the steering wheel and confirm the operations.

Trimble’s positioning solution, underpinned by its integrity monitoring capabilities, enables consistent lane-level positioning in complex, real-world driving environments. As with any current steering system, the driver must remain alert and attentive at all times.

The Trimble RTX network is supported by a globally redundant and resilient infrastructure – backed by a team of ISO 20000 certified network engineers and IT specialists, monitoring operations around the clock to ensure optimal signal performance and reliability for drivers who will depend on it.

Trimble’s RTX positioning technology can provide decimeter-level accuracy in seconds, making it an ideal solution for autonomy applications, including automotive driving, when accuracy, speed of convergence and accessibility to a single global network matter.