Nissan's Robot Concept "Cars" Avoid Accidents By Mimicking Fish

In 2008, it was the flight of the bumblebee that inspired Nissan's Biomimetic Car Robot Drive "BR23C" concept. In 2009, fish-inspired technology takes center stage in Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s new Nissan "EPORO*1" robot car concept, which is designed to travel in a group of like-vehicles, mimicking the behavioral patterns of a school of fish in avoiding obstacles without colliding with each other.




EPORO robot car

CEATEC JAPAN is an annual exhibition showcasing cutting-edge electronic and information technologies. Nissan is the only auto manufacturer that has been a participant in this exhibition since 2006. In addition to displaying the futuristic EPORO, Nissan Senior Vice President Minoru Shinohara will deliver a keynote speech, titled "The Future of the Automobile with Electric Vehicles and Car Robotics Evolution," and participate in a panel discussion on "EV leads to a society of 'All Electrification' and 'All Mobilization.'" Nissan will also exhibit the new Skyline Crossover's*2 current collision prevention technologies and provide test drives of an eco-drive diagnosis system utilizing an iPhone®*3 application.
EPORO Robot Car

So what do a bumblebee and a school of fish have in common? Both demonstrate extraordinary "anti-collision" abilities, navigating instinctively and intelligently through challenging terrain by detecting and avoiding obstacles - just as future Nissan safety vehicles may have the
capability to do. But where bees - and the BR23C robot car - are likely to travel alone, the schooling behavior of fish, or a group of vehicles, presents a far greater challenge in terms of collision avoidance. In developing EPORO, three rules of fish behavior were applied to its driving control. School of fish swimming

School of fish swimming

Generically, fish recognize the surroundings based on lateral-line sense and sense of sight and form schools based on three behavior rules. A laser range finder*4 is used for lateral-line sense, while UWB*5 communications technology is utilized for the sense of sight.
Fish behavior rules 

AREA 1: Collision Avoidance
Change traveling direction without colliding with other fish.

AREA 2: Traveling Side-by-Side
Travel side-by-side with other fish while keeping a certain distance between each fish (to match the speed).

AREA 3: Approaching
Gain closer proximity to other fish that are at a distance from them.

"We, in a motorized world, have a lot to learn from the behavior of a school of fish in terms of each fish's degree of freedom and safety within a school and high migration efficiency of a school itself. In EPORO, we recreated the behavior of a school of fish making full use of cutting-edge electronic technologies," said Toshiyuki Andou, Manager of Nissan's Mobility Laboratory and principal engineer of the robot car project. "By sharing the surrounding information received within the group via communication, the group of EPOROs can travel safely, changing its shape as needed."

This is the world's first development of a robot car that can travel in a group by sharing the position and information of others within a group via communication technologies.

While Nissan's ongoing research aims at creating collision-free vehicles based on its safety concept "Safety Shield*6," new technologies used in EPORO also aim to improve migration efficiency of a group of vehicles and contribute to an environmentally friendly and traffic jam-free driving environment.

[Keynote Speech]
Minoru Shinohara, Senior Vice President in charge of Research & Development, will make a presentation on "The Future of the Automobile with Electric Vehicles and Car Robotics Evolution," talking about an impact of EV on society and a safer automotive society in the future with collision-free vehicles.

Source: NissanEporo