Safer Steering: Autonomous Emergency Steering System

Oct. 23 – Yokohama – Nissan used its Advanced Technology Briefing earlier this month to unveil its “Autonomous Emergency Steering System,” potentially helping drivers avoid accidents.

The system offers a high level of collision avoidance capability by applying automatic braking and automatic steering in situations where a collision is imminent and evading obstacles by braking may not be effective.

It takes effect in situations where unpredictable risks arise, such as sudden intrusions onto the road in low-speed zones, or when a collision at high speed is imminent due to the driver’s delayed recognition of the tail end of a traffic jam.

Nissan has long worked on the development and commercialization of brake-based control technology. The company has recently promoted development of the technology to deal with situations that cannot be mitigated through braking alone.

The Autonomous Emergency Steering System, using information provided by the front-mounted radar and camera, the two left and right rear radars, and the five laser scanners attached around the vehicle, initially acts on risk of collision that cannot be avoided by braking.

Simultaneously, it checks if there is a forward zone free of obstacles and that there are no vehicles approaching from the rear, and then displays to the driver the direction that the vehicle should be steered towards. If the driver cannot immediately steer in that direction, the system takes over to automatically steer the vehicle to help avoid a collision.