May 31 is a great day to honor Prof. Takeo Kanade, 2016 Kyoto Prize Laureate, for his pioneering contributions to computer vision and robotics. It's Autonomous Vehicle Day!
One of Prof. Takeo Kanade's most profound achievements relates to automated driving. In 1985, his autonomous vehicle project formed the early foundation for the recent emergence of autonomous driving technologies. He was the first researcher in the world to create an artificial intelligence system capable of sensing freeway lanes, executing accurate lane changes, recognizing and avoiding obstacles, and detecting other vehicles in real time based on data from vehicle-mounted range sensors and cameras. His team carried out a superb demonstration called "No Hands Across America," the idea of which was to traverse the North American continent by car without touching the steering wheel. Researchers drove approximately 4,500 kilometers, from Pittsburgh to San Diego, with hardly any use of the steering wheel. This groundbreaking demonstration was extremely significant in showing the future potential for fully automated driving.
