Mitsubishi Electric Technology of Autonomous Driving

The Mitsubishi Electric corporation announced on October 12, 2017 the beginning of field tests on highways of technology of autonomous driving. The technology is based on use of the signals of differential correction of centimetric level of the accuracy (CLAS) transmitted by a quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS).

Test objective

Road tests are carried out for the purpose of check of a possibility of the autonomous movement when using signals of CLAS and high-precision 3D maps in combination with developments of Mitsubishi Electric in the field of the systems of intellectual driving, such as touch technologies on the basis of the radar and the camera of millimetric range.

Essence of CLAS

CLAS is a service of high-precision positioning for a quasi-zenith satellite system. As of October, 2017, a system goes through closing stages of testing. Introduction of CLAS is planned for April, 2018. It is expected that service will be used including for ensuring safe autonomous driving.

In everyday life in the global navigation satellite systems, or GNSS (groupings of navigation satellites, for example, GPS) working in the different countries of the world signals of satellite positioning are used. Accuracy of such positioning is in range of several meters because of the errors connected with satellite orbits, instability of onboard hours, shifts of satellites and also local external factors, such as ionospheric and tropospheric delays of signals explained in Mitsubishi Electric.

CLAS increases positioning accuracy due to use of data of differential correction which arrive from network of permanent referentsny stations, or PDRS (have certain coordinates and observe parameters of the GNSS satellites) which are in management of the State chamber according to geospatial information of Japan. Through a quasi-zenith satellite system these data are transferred to the high-precision navigation receivers installed on cars which can define location with an accuracy of several centimeters.

"Society 5.0"

As explained in Mitsubishi Electric, development and deployment of the innovative technologies in the field of autonomous driving — one of the most important instruments of creation of comfortable and safe society within strategy implementation Society 5.0.

Super Smart Society, or Society 5.0 ("Society 5.0") are the large-scale long-term strategy of reforming of the Japanese society developed by the government of the country in response to relevant calls to its development, for example, aging of the population. Society 5.0 assumes active use of the advanced technology achievements, including industrial Internet of Things, robotization and artificial intelligence, in everyday life of the person, production, health care and other areas.

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