Honda has announced the commencement of joint research on AI technologies with the Indian Institutes of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and IIT Bombay. This collaboration aims to advance Honda’s Cooperative Intelligence (CI), focusing on enhancing CI’s underlying technologies to address future applications such as reducing traffic collisions and enabling automated driving.
Honda’s partnership with the IITs will leverage the expertise of their researchers and engineers. The goal is to advance CI technologies to contribute to a society where mobility is ubiquitous, collision-free, and stress-free. Honda is already demonstrating a proof of concept for its CI-powered micro-mobility vehicle/robot in Joso City, Japan, highlighting its commitment to this vision.
Advancing CI capabilities
Through joint research themes like environmental recognition and cooperative behavior cultivation, Honda and the IITs aim to enhance CI’s capabilities. This research will involve Honda associates and IIT professors collaborating with students to plan, design, develop, and test technologies beyond traditional laboratory settings. This approach is intended to create a flexible research environment, fostering a deeper exchange of academic and industry insights.
Honda plans to test driving assistance and automated driving technologies in the suburbs of Delhi and Mumbai. The complexity of India’s traffic environment, characterised by diverse road systems and a high number of road users, presents a challenging setting for AI prediction. By testing technologies in such conditions, Honda and the IITs aim to refine CI’s underlying technologies and apply them to driver assistance and automated driving technologies globally, including in India.
Since 2019, Honda has been hiring IIT graduates to work in mobility intelligence and CI research and development. The new joint research programs with IIT professors and students specialising in AI and automated driving technologies will further accelerate CI research and development. They will also provide practical research opportunities, contributing to the development of future AI researchers.
“Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL), a Honda subsidiary in India, will sign a joint research contract with the IITs. Engineers from both HCIL and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a research and development subsidiary of Honda, will participate in the joint research,” stated Honda.
CI, a type of artificial intelligence, supports users by cooperating with them and those around them, communicating through gestures, behaviors, and words. Achieving mutual understanding and cooperation between people and systems with CI will enable them to coexist in various situations, including complex traffic environments.
IIT efforts towards advanced technologies
The Indian Institutes of Technology are renowned for their cutting-edge engineering and science research. Comprising 23 institutions, each IIT is independently organised and contributes to advanced technology and research. IIT Delhi, located in the capital of India, hosts high-end laboratories and centers of excellence addressing global challenges such as collaborative robots and carbon neutrality. IIT Bombay, located in Mumbai, houses the Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science, a multidisciplinary effort to tackle AI and machine learning challenges. Both IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay are recognised as Institutes of Eminence by the Indian government.
By pursuing joint research with the IITs, Honda aims to enhance CI’s capabilities for safer and more efficient mobility. This collaboration highlights the importance of academic and industry partnerships in pushing the boundaries of AI and automated driving technologies.
This initiative underscores Honda’s commitment to leveraging academic excellence at the IITs to achieve advancements in AI technologies. It also emphasises Honda’s long-term vision of making mobility safer, more efficient, and accessible to everyone. The joint research programs will foster innovation, benefiting not only Honda but also contributing to the global AI and mobility landscape.
