Japanese auto major Nissan Motor, which has been developing an electric car with an autonomous driving technology, has filed a patent application in India for a control device that can regulate the speed of an electric vehicle. The device can detect the speed of the vehicle and calculate the force required to gradually control the vehicle, claims the company.
According to a patent application filed with the Indian Patent Office, the patent is for a control device and control method for electric vehicles. The device can calculate the speed at which the vehicle is moving, and estimate the parameters required to control the speed. It can then control the motor according to a calculated motor torque command value and bring to a level where the electric vehicle nearly stops its movement.
The company claims to be the leader in fully electric vehicles since 2010 and offers passenger cars and vans with the technology in countries like the United Kingdom. It claims that the maintenance cost is less for these vehicles since models like Nissan Leaf do not have an internal combustion engine or a traditional gearbox, and fewer moving parts.
The company's US website also says that the 2018 Nissan Leaf will feature an autonomous drive functionality for single-lane highway driving. In July this year, the company announced that the 2018 model of Nissan Leaf would premiere on September 6, and revealed it would be equipped with the ProPilot Park technology, which helps drivers park by automatically guiding the car into a parking spot.
"It will also be equipped with ProPILOT, Nissan's autonomous drive technology that reduces the hassle of stop-and-go highway driving. The technology aids drivers by helping control acceleration, braking and steering during single-lane driving on the highway," the company said a report then. The technology is available in the Nissan Serena and was introduced on the Nissan X-Trail in Japan. In 2018, it will introduce ProPILOT on the new Qashqai in Europe, it said.
While its Indian plans with the autonomous vehicles and electric cars are yet to be known, the company has recently filed a slew of patent applications in connection with the autonomous vehicles in India.
As reported earlier, the patent details filed with Indian authorities for approval includes a device to calculate the travel route, with distance measurement, and the methods to use the information in all the four sides of the vehicle to avoid objects in the detection region; a position self calculation device capable of accurately detecting the position of the vehicle on which the device is fitted using a projector, image capturing unit etc., to know the current position.
Besides, another patent has been filed related to a traffic signal detection device which can appropriately select the traffic signal to be detected depending on the blocked state of the traffic signal; a driving assistance device for assisting driving when the vehicle is changing lanes and detecting objects around it.