ZMP is pursuing technology development and demonstration test while drawing a society in which future Autonomous Driving has been put into practical use.
The following is a concept movie, 'HOTARU (Fire Fly)' of the society in which Autonomous Driving is realized.

At ZMP, we are aiming not only for Autonomous driving of automobiles, but also for a world where all machines are automated. Currently, we are working on development with the aim of providing services that aim for Autonomous driving at level 4 or higher in order to provide mobility for the movement of people and things in Tokyo, the center of the economy, in rural areas that are poorly populated, or where there are vulnerable road users.

In addition, we would like to develop and deliver ZMP services not only in Japan, but also in other parts of Asia, such as China, Korea, Vietnam as well as in the United States, Europe, Africa and other parts of the world.

ZMP develops in-house core technologies necessary for Autonomous Driving.

An example is the "eyes" that governs cognition and the "brains" that governs judgment.

The stereo camera uses a high-sensitivity CMOS image sensor, and is in-house developed from preprocessing such as synchronization, parallelization, and distortion correction to distance detection from parallax and object detection. Unlike ADAS on expressways, in urban driving, complex recognition is taken such as responding to unexpected situations such as sudden jumps out from the car, pedestrians, bicycles, bikes, and cars behind cars. Other traffic, pedestrians, etc., we need various recognition and prediction using AI (Artificial Intelligence) and deep learning technology.

In addition, the brains of Autonomous Driving can be installed not only in cars but also in Logistics Support robots and Delivery robots, achieving automation of all machines.

ZMP started the sale and development of tools for Autonomous vehicles from 2009 and has accumulated technology and know-how for Autonomous control. Currently, the technology has been diverted to logistics support cart type robots and home delivery robots, expanding the field of activity. We will introduce our products below.

ZMP began its experimenting using Autonomous Driving Technology in 2014 at Aichi Prefecture, and later we did experiments around our office area, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo. Currently, we are developing and testing functions such as lane changes and turning to the left and right in traffic environments such as Odaiba where traffic is heavy. In 2017 the trial was carried with no driver in the driver seat. We have just realized the world's first Autonomous Driving taxi services to fare-paying passengers on public roads between Otemachi and Roppongi, together with HINOMARU Kotsu Co., Ltd. in the month of August, 2018 and above 90% of the functioning was Autonomous. We were able to receive comments like “Safe Ride” from the customers. We ZMP, while improving the acceptability of automated driving to society and the feasibility of services, we will build an environment in which Autonomous Driving vehicles shall be accepted by society and accelerate technology development toward the realization of Autonomous taxis and MaaS in 2020.

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In Japan, Toyota Motor, Nissan, and Softbank are the first to commercialize Autonomous Driving.

Among them, ZMP is currently working on the development of fully automated driving, MaaS service, and New Mobility service.

In addition, ZMP has been engaged in public relations activities to facilitate development of Autonomous Driving by working with the Government and Ministries.​ ​

In a society where fully automated driving has been realized, it is also true that there are various issues such as liability issues and insurance issues in the event of an accident. We would like to create an environment where new technology can be accepted by society by cutting the front line and working on these issues.

Various automobile manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan and electric manufacturers such as Panasonic, Sony and other institutes like AIST and other universities use products such as RoboCar® series vehicles as development tools.

CarriRo®, a logistics support robot started sales in 2016 and has been introduced to more than 120 companies. CarriRo® is a product that has evolved while responding to the needs of logistics field, adding a linking function with an external device, with the core function being the Karugamo function that comes with beacons (light transmitters) and the Autonomous movement function.

As it can utilize the Autonomous movement function without large-scale installation of equipment, it is used in various places such as major 3PL companies and automobile parts factories in Japan.
We will introduce some of the features below along with user examples.

CarriRo® Deli, which was developed with the aim of realizing the world's first delivery robot service, is a delivery robot that uses Autonomous Driving technology equipped with a loadable box.

Equipped with a LiDAR or camera as a sensor for Autonomous movement, LED panels on the eyes and a speaker installed, it can communicate with people around.

In order to realize home delivery services, we provide robots that can move autonomously, applications for users and stores, and IT services in a package.

As an initiative of ZMP, we have been conducting a delivery robot service demonstration test that actually delivers products and receives payment on university campuses. Autonomous Driving technology is moving from the “era of development to use”, creating a new industry in the future, and using it for development to make the world more convenient.

In addition to the initiatives introduced above, below are few others.

・ Development of new mobility which is not defined in existing categories
・ Delivery service using AI
・ Behavior prediction using big data
・ Image recognition using Deep learning
・ AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbot system using voice dialogue and natural language recognition
・ Development of Autonomous Driving vehicle platform using EV

We are also working to develop new technological elements to provide new surprises to the market.

Below are the new products and service robots that ZMP is working on. Visit our website to checkout for the announcement of new ZMP initiatives.

Basic information on Autonomous Driving and ADAS technology, Efforts of each company, Development elements of Autonomous Driving and ADAS etc., are mentioned below.
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