JAKARTA - Honda is starting a demonstration trial of autonomous driving technology using Honda CI (Cooperative Intelligence), Honda's collaborative artificial intelligence technology, in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, starting February 2026.
In an official statement received on Wednesday, January 21, this trial was carried out based on the "Autonomous Driving Technology Demonstration Trial Agreement to Overcome Transportation Problems" which had been agreed upon with the Kanagawa Prefectural Government and the Odawara City Government, Japan.
By utilizing the characteristics of the Odawara region, which has a bumpy road contour and relatively dense traffic, this demonstration aims to improve the CI autonomous driving system's recognition ability on uphill and downhill road conditions, as well as expand the operational speed range from low speed to medium speed. In this demonstration, Honda uses a Honda CR-V equipped with various sensors as a test vehicle.
With the assistance of safety monitoring officers inside the vehicle, the car will drive on public roads in the Tachibana Industrial Park, Odawara City, to verify the technical verification of the CI autonomous driving system. The scope of testing will be gradually expanded by adding driving areas and increasing the system speed limit to 60 km/h.
In addition, Honda is also developing CI autonomous driving technology in parallel and efforts towards carbon neutrality through the use of Honda N-VAN e: (EV).
CI's autonomous driving technology is designed to be able to adapt to various road environments without requiring high-precision maps or large-scale infrastructure. Through the retrofit approach, Honda aims to make a real contribution to the local community by integrating cutting-edge technology into existing cities and road networks, thereby supporting the more effective reuse of the area.
Honda continues to develop autonomous driving technology that can be used in various traffic conditions by increasing the reliability and flexibility of the system through various trials in regions with different characteristics, including demonstrations in Odawara City.
In the future, this technology is also projected to be applied not only to passenger cars, but also to various other mobility solutions, such as buses and micro mobility.
To date, Honda has combined camera-based recognition technology with CI in the CI micro mobility (green slow mobility) initiative, with the target of achieving Level 4 autonomous driving certification at speeds below 20 km/h. Honda targets the initial stage of implementing Level 4 autonomous driving certification in certain conditions in fiscal year 2027, and the commercialization of this technology around 2030.
In the trial in Odawara, Honda equipped the test vehicle with LiDAR technology in addition to cameras, as preparation for the implementation of Level 4 autonomous driving on public roads with higher traffic volume and speed. LiDAR technology enables the measurement of the position and speed of objects and road users at a distance with a high level of precision, thereby improving the accuracy of recognition and system redundancy.
CI's autonomous driving technology is also equipped with "mapless cooperative driving technology", which allows vehicles to recognize the surrounding environment in real time without relying on high-precision maps.
With the combination of cameras and LiDAR, the system is able to detect the position of road users and road structures more stably, including on roads with significant elevation changes, so that the level of safety required for Level 4 autonomous driving is maintained even though the speed range is expanded to 60 km/h.
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