Honda begins joint research on AI tech with Indian IITs to refine driver assistance, automated driving systems

Honda has announced that it has started joint research with Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) on Honda Cooperative Intelligence (Honda CI).

Honda CI is a form of artificial intelligence (AI) by the Japanese manufacturer that “enables mutual understanding between machines and people,” said Honda, and its joint research with the Indian institutes of technology is aimed at advancing the underlying technologies of cooperative intelligence, with the possibility of future applications for technologies which reduce traffic collisions and enable automated driving, it said.

The Japanese manufacturer is aiming to make mobility ubiquitous, collision-free and stress-free, and it is currently also conducting proof-of-concept demonstrations of its CI-powered micro-mobility vehicle in Japan, in Joso City in the Ibraki prefecture.

Joint research themes have been set by Honda and the IITs, such as recognition of the surrounding environment and cultivation of cooperative behaviour, and Honda associates and IIT professors will jointly engage with IIT students for the planning, designing, developing and testing of these technologies which will be carried out outside of laboratory confines.

This will then allow research and development to proceed with greater freedom, and enable Honda to work with the IITs in a more flexible environment with deeper exchange of insights, the manufacturer said. Through its collaboration with the IITs, Honda aims to conduct its verification of driving assistance systems and automated driving technologies in the suburbs of Delhi and Mumbai.

Specifically because of the numerous variations in road systems and its large population of road users which pose a complex traffic environment for AI to predict, conducting the technology verification in this environment is aimed at refining the underlying technologies of Honda’s cooperative intelligence for their future application in driver assistance and automated driving technologies for various regions in the world, including India.

Through its pursuit of of joint research programmes with IIT professors and students who specialise in AI and automated driving technologies, Honda aims to expedite the R&D of CI and contribute to the growth of researchers who will play roles in future AI research by providing them with practical research opportunities, said Honda.

Honda’s aforementioned aim of achieving a collision-free road user society is also the goal of the Japanese manufacturer’s plan to have Honda Sensing 360 reach all major markets by 2030, towards its broader objective of achieving zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles worldwide by 2050.

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