Nissan and Nasa team up to work on autonomous drive technology

In-car apps and related technology has attracted the interest of a lot of carmakers. Proof of which could be seen at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 at Las Vegas. Among them was the Japanese carmaker, Nissan, who has announced that they have teamed up with Nasa to advance autonomous drive technology.

Yokohama-based Nissan Motor Co. and Nasa's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, announced on Thursday a five-year research-and-development partnership for autonomous vehicle systems so that they can eventually be applied to commercially sold cars.

Self-driving cars have garnered a lot of attention lately. And any automaker worth its salt is trying to get a share of this pie. Nissan too is progressing on the same path, their aim being to improve safety and also enhance low-emission technology.

Nissan aims to introduce autonomous driving technology to consumers between 2016 and 2020. "The partnership brings together the best and brightest of Nasa and Nissan and validates our investments in Silicon Valley," said Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn.

Their plans for safety technology, includes cars that receive warnings of potential collisions beforehand through sensors and will brake automatically, even if the driver doesn't do a thing. Another exciting feature of auto-parking cars is also being worked upon.

If successful, the technology could replace human drivers altogether. This is a shared idea across automakers and the problems that need to be overcome to see these on the roads, are also many. 

Besides Nissan , Toyota, GM and  Ford Motor Co. are also working on similar lines  plus the much talked about  Google Inc’s technology is also in the picture.