Honda, a leading Japanese automobile manufacturer, has announced the commencement of joint research with IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay to develop advanced AI technologies for driver assistance and automated driving. This collaboration aims to enhance Honda's Cooperative Intelligence (CI), the company's proprietary AI system designed to facilitate better interaction between machines and humans. The research will focus on creating solutions that are applicable in various global markets, including India.
Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL), a Honda subsidiary in India, will sign a joint research contract with the two IITs. "The IITs are home to a large number of excellent researchers and engineers, and through the joint research with those institutes, Honda will strive to advance the underlying technologies of CI, with an eye toward the future applications for technologies that reduce traffic collisions and enable automated driving", it said.
To advance CI further, Honda and the IITs have established joint research themes, including environmental recognition and the development of cooperative behavior. They will leverage cutting-edge AI technologies to drive their research and development efforts.
Under the partnership, for each research theme, Honda associates and IIT professors will engage with IIT students for planning, designing, developing and testing technologies which work beyond the confines of the laboratory and thereby proceed with the research and development more flexibly and with a high degree of freedom, Honda said. "This will enable Honda and IITs to work in a more flexible environment with a deeper exchange of academic and industry insights", it added.
As part of this research, Honda, in collaboration with the IITs, plans to test driving assistance and automated driving technologies in the suburbs of Delhi and Mumbai. India's complex traffic environment, characterized by diverse road systems and numerous road users, presents challenges for AI in predicting common driving scenarios.
"By conducting technology verification in such a technically challenging environment, Honda and IITs will refine the underlying technologies of CI and strive to apply them to future driver assistance and automated driving technologies in various regions of the world, including India", the statement said. Honda said it has been actively hiring IIT graduates since 2019, and many of them are now playing key roles in the areas of mobility intelligence, including the research and development of CI.
