NISSAN TO TEST REAL-TIME “SLIP-HAZARD WARNING SYSTEM”
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 Posted by: Matt
TOKYO (October 1, 2007)– Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it will test its “slip-hazard warning system” in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, to help mitigate accidents on slippery roads experienced in cold weather conditions. The advanced intelligent-system combines data from its ITS*1 (Intelligent Transport System) and in-vehicle ABS (anti-lock braking system) to issue real-time voice alerts as the vehicle approaches a slippery point in the road.
The Hokkaido test is part of the ITS project piloted in Kanagawa Prefecture since October 2006, involving customers’ vehicle participation*2, to help reduce traffic accidents and congestion. The extension of the project in Hokkaido is intended to evaluate the tolerances in the system under real-world driving conditions.
Around Sapporo city, Nissan is expecting about 100 vehicles, which are equipped with the Carwings navigation system to provide the necessary real-world driving sample data for this project. The customer selection will begin in October 2007, and the test phase will be conducted from November 2007 to March 2008, in cooperation with the Hokkaido Prefectural Police.
Nissan hopes to examine the accuracy, effectiveness and feasibility of the system utilizing various probe data, for future commercial application. In addition to the “slip-hazard warning system”, the newly-improved Carwings system offers a full range of information for the customer such as traffic information and route navigation.
* The latest slippery points
Real-time map of slippery points relative to current vehicle position based on data received via its Carwings communications system and probe information*3 i.e. activation of ABS operation indicating slippery conditions.
* Statistical data based on historical records of the slippery points.
* Location of reported skid accidents from past years.
Location of skid accidents in the most recent year.
Image of navigation display
*1: The Intelligent Transport System is an advanced information system that connects people, vehicles and traffic infrastructure that can contribute to help improve road safety.
*2: The ITS Project in Kanagawa prefecture is a collaboration between Nissan, NTT DoCoMo Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., and Xanavi Infomatics Corp. NTT DoCoMo Hokkaido Inc. is also involved in the test in Hokkaido.
*3: Vehicle location, speed and other information via cellular communications.
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