Mitsubishi Electric Corp., a supplier of air-to-air missiles to Japan's armed forces, is looking to adapt the technologies it originally developed for military use to help autonomous driving cars detect obstacles and avoid collisions.
Components such as millimeter-wave radar, sonar, sensors and cameras — some of which were developed to guide missiles — are being adapted for use in self-driving vehicles that will hit the roads by 2020, Katsumi Adachi, senior chief engineer at Mitsubishi's automotive equipment division, said in an interview. It has received orders for automatic braking systems and instruments that help a vehicle keep to its lane, he said.
The Japanese supplier is seeking to catch up with Continental AG, Denso Corp. and Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. in providing assistance technologies that are becoming increasingly standard offerings in new vehicle models. While its competitors have a head start, Adachi says Mitsubishi will be able to offer superior systems next year that will benefit from its expertise in high-precision sensors and electric-power steering systems.