Nissan announced its Advanced Product Development Center in Sunnyvale open today, which will particularly focus on future generation of high-end autonomous vehicles that are capable of driving all by them, based on the commands of an occupant. The center will also work on an advanced technology that enhances vehicle-to-vehicle communications, and improve the manner in which the drivers interact and use the technologies in their vehicles.
However, according to Carla Bailo, Senior Vice President for R&D, Nissan America, the company doesn’t want to execute the work with expert automotive engineers. Rather, Nissan is concentrating on the talent pool from diverse industries for providing fresh and innovative ideas pertaining to autonomous vehicles that the company plans to manufacture and market in the years to come. As reported by company officials, an expert in artificial intelligence, Sierhuis, is the first to visit the Nissan auto plant, where Carla took him on an extensive tour of the U.S operations of the company. The Dutch university professor is currently working with NASA, and has keen experience with IBM, Xerox, and NYNEX.
Carla Bailo declares Silicon Valley to be a “talent trove,” presenting an extensive pool of experts from some of the world’ leading software and computer companies located here. At the same time, she also reported that the new production center of Nissan will work through extensive R&D partnerships with different renowned universities such as University of Berkeley, California, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
With a completely new and unique approach to talent pools, Nissan expects the autonomous cars to hit the market within a decade. However, there are certain concerns that are to be resolved at priority such as vehicle communications, safety, insurance norms, highway infrastructure, and regulatory policies. To resolve such issues, Nissan wants a group with innovative ideas and vast outside experience, stated Bailo.
