Photo: Honda
Honda has announced the next generation of its safety and driver-assistive technology suite: Honda Sensing 360. It will be standard equipment on all new Honda and Acura models in the United States by 2030 as one step toward the automaker’s goal to completely eradicate traffic collision fatalities.
We’ve already covered all of the features offered as part of the regular Honda Sensing suite in another article, and so far, Honda has revealed very little about what the next-generation upgrade will bring beside additional sensors.
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Currently, Honda Sensing (and AcuraWatch) features rely on monocular cameras mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle. These cameras provide the information necessary for the automatic emergency braking system and road departure mitigation system, for instance. However, Honda Sensing 360 aims to go further with an array of five millimeter-wave radar units positioned around the car, essentially providing the onboard systems an omni-directional picture of the vehicle’s surroundings, one entirely free of blind spots.
This will fall under Level 2 autonomy, meaning the driver will still need to be fully attentive to the road and ready to take action if necessary, even though the driver-assist systems may be able to autonomously intervene in some situations. That said, Honda has yet to reveal potential new features its new sensor array could support.
“Honda Sensing 360 represents the next major step in what has already been an industry-leading application of safety and driver-assistive technologies,” said Gary Robinson, assistant vice president of Product Planning at American Honda Motor Co. “Honda will continue to advance our technologies to improve safety for everyone sharing the road and play a leading role in realizing a collision-free society.”
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.
