As part of its efforts to establish automated driving technologies to realise a collision-free society, Honda R&D, the R&D subsidiary of Honda Motor, has announced that it has signed a 5-year joint research and development contract with SenseTime Group Limited, a China-based IT company with strengths in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

SenseTime, Honda says, is highly regarded on a global basis as a company that excels in image recognition technologies, especially recognition of moving objects, powered by deep learning technology, one of the most advanced AI technologies.

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In this joint research and development, combining SenseTime’s moving object recognition technologies with Honda’s AI algorithms for scene understanding, risk prediction and action planning, the two companies will develop highly-sophisticated automated driving technologies which will enable complex automated driving in urban areas.

Moreover, this joint research and development will not be limited to automated driving, as the two companies plan to expand the joint activities into the area of robotics.

Honda will strive to continue serving people worldwide with the “joy of expanding their life’s potential” by creating a number of innovations in the future.

Areas of Honda-SenseTime joint research and development

  • AI algorithms to be applied for automated driving systems
  • Scene understanding: Estimating the driving environment and the behaviours and intentions of pedestrians and vehicles
  • Risk prediction: Predicting the future position of pedestrians and vehicles based on the results of estimating the driving environment and the intentions of pedestrians and vehicles
  • Action planning: Deciding on the actions taken by the vehicle such as stopping, starting and avoiding, and then generating driving trajectory based on the results of risk prediction
  • Large-scale computing technologies necessary to learn AI algorithms
  • Technologies to package AI programs with on-board controllers

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