News

・ Driver monitor system with a function unique to Advanced Drive to detect the driver’s status achieved by improving recognition performance using AI technologies

・ Newly developed a highly accurate map for the advanced drive assist system containing necessary information, such as lane structure, white line shape, and markings on road surfaces

 AISIN’s products for enabling advanced driving assist technology were adopted in TOYOTA “MIRAI” and LEXUS new “LS” as products for the advanced driving assist technology called “Advanced Drive.”

 The objective of Advanced Drive, the state-of-the-art driving assist technology that was announced by Toyota Motor Corporation, is to achieve automated driving that drivers can rely on through decision-making with the highest priority on safety at all times, including consideration for the drivers of other vehicles, while achieving natural and smooth driving equivalent to that performed by a human driver. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology centered on deep learning is incorporated to forecast various situations that may be encountered while driving and provide assistance for driver responses. In cases where danger is forecast, whether in the surrounding environment or concerning the driver’s condition, the system provides a warning, and the driver can make a decision or specify operation of the system in accordance with a proposal from the system. The objective is driving assistance that fosters trust between the driver and the car through this two-way communication.

 As solutions to realize this technology, AISIN newly developed a driver monitoring system and a car navigation system with a highly accurate map. The company will continue to promote engineering development aimed at eliminating fatalities from traffic accidents and achieving human-centric driving assistance in cooperation with Toyota and other related companies.

Newly developed products

■ Driver monitoring system (for Advanced Drive)

In the hands-free driving mode in Advanced Drive, the driver is obliged to always pay attention to his or her surrounding environment, and the system assists the driver and the vehicle in driving appropriately.

   By incorporating state-of-the-art AI using a general-purpose processor, this system has significantly improved the performance capabilities of detecting which direction the driver’s eyes and face are oriented and whether his or her eyes are open or closed, enabling highly accurate detection even when detection of the driver’s face is difficult. Furthermore, AI also serves the function of safely stopping the vehicle if the driver’s driving posture collapses or if there is no response to system warnings and lack of operation by the driver continues, as the system determines that continued driving by the driver would be difficult.

   Since AISIN developed the world’s first driver monitoring system that detected the orientation of the driver’s face in 2006, AISIN has been pursuing added value in keeping with changes in vehicles and society. AISIN will continue to incorporate its technologies into systems that help to prevent traffic accidents.

Driver monitoring system (camera)/Image provided by: Toyota Motor Corporation

Detecting in which direction the driver’s eyes and face are oriented and whether his/her eyes are open or closed

■ Car navigation system (for Advanced Drive) with a highly accurate map

 By sending route information set in the car navigation system to the advanced drive assistance system, the system assists driving when the vehicle is driving on an expressway or other motor-vehicle-only roadway on the way to the destination. Also, by using the latest traffic information received by the car navigation system, it can assist driving in relation to lane closures and other traffic situations.

 Furthermore, in the advanced drive assistance system using Advanced Drive, the highly accurate map newly developed by AISIN is adopted, which contains high-accuracy necessary information, such as lane structure, white line shape, and markings on road surfaces. Also, AISIN has built a mechanism that enables the distribution of the latest highly accurate map information from the cloud so that the advanced drive assistance system can be used even on a newly opened road.