Nissan has its eyes set on the ocean
Nissan’s Around View Monitor (AVM) technology, a building block of its autonomous drive technology, will help remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) search for natural resources and undiscovered mysteries of the oceans.
Nissan’s AVM technology will help ROV operators avoid obstacles and navigate the ocean seabed more easily. This project illustrates how AVM knowhow is being put to practical use in complex operating environments.
AVM is one of the base technologies for Nissan’s autonomous drive vehicles, which the company aims to bring market by 2020. First commercialized in 2007, AVM provides a virtual 360-degree overview of a car from a bird’s-eye view as pictured from above. The technology helps drivers visually confirm the vehicle’s position relative to parking spaces and adjacent objects and manoeuvre into parking spots more easily. Nissan added Moving Object Detection (MOD) technology to AVM in 2011
and continues to develop other associated safety technologies.
Under the Japanese government’s SIP initiative, JAMSTEC, Japan’s agency that develops next-generation technologies to explore for resources deep under the sea, and Topy Industries, one of the top manufacturers of robot crawlers in Japan, have teamed up to develop a highly-efficient operating system for undersea searches using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The ROVs being tested by JAMSTEC and Topy include a version of Nissan AVM which features three-dimensional picture processing capability.
The AVM 3D function is combined with the ROV’s camera to improve measurement of distances on the ocean floor. This provides operators, controlling the ROVs aboard mother ships at sea, an overhead real-time bird’s-eye view of the remote vehicle and its immediate surroundings. The goal is to improve the efficiency of undersea searches by avoiding obstacles on the seabed with better real-time situational awareness.
Nissan continues to develop technologies and know-how as part of its main business and for use in a variety of fields. Revenue generated by its intangible assets is reinvested in new technology development, further contributing to Nissan’s technological competence.
Use of AVM technology in undersea environments is an extension of the autonomous drive technology that Nissan is developing to enhance the driving experience, minimise traffic accidents and injuries, and provide more convenient, comfortable mobility options together with peace of mind.
