GADGET Nissan EPORO Robot Car

EPORO’s drive control mimics the behavior of fish in schools, which do not collide with each other even when swimming close together. Generally speaking, fish change their direction so as not to collide with other fish, forming a school by maintaining a fixed distance with other fish in the vicinity and by moving closer to others if they draw too far away. Nissan made this drive control possible by using a Laser Rangefinder laser reflector and UWB Communications wireless transmission technologies, and incorporated it into the EPORO. In the demonstration, several EPORO units traveled around a circuit by maintaining a uniform distance between each other and avoided collisions. The background behind the development of EPORO is Nissan’s Safety Shield concept, which is high-level, active safety technology designed to protect people. In the future, Nissan will incorporate EPORO technology into its cars as it has shown to be useful in preventing collisions between vehicles.

Photo (c) CEATEC Japan / Nissan