ZF bags Nissan Global Supplier Innovation Award for enabling PropPilot tech

ZF has announced that it has received a 2017 Nissan Global Supplier Award for Innovation for its efforts in the development of camera technology. The forward-looking camera is part of Nissan’s ProPilot autonomous driving technology which launched last year on its popular Serena models in Japan.

“We thank Nissan for this prestigious award and the opportunity to contribute to milestone systems like ProPilot,” said Peter Lake, member of the board of ZF responsible for Corporate Market. “Nissan continues to be at the forefront of developing semi and fully automated functions and systems and ZF looks forward to continuing to help develop and support these efforts.”

ProPilot is a revolutionary autonomous drive technology designed for highway use in single-lane traffic. Nissan was the first Japanese automaker to introduce a combination of steering, accelerator and braking that can be operated in fully automatic mode, easing driver workload in heavy highway traffic and long commutes. Employing advanced image-processing technology supported by ZF camera technology, the ProPilot system understands road and traffic situations and executes precise steering enabling - the vehicle to perform naturally.

This award also highlights the success of ZF’s See, Think and Act philosophy that enables advanced safety and automated functions as ZF continues to develop its full suite of sensors (camera, radar and lidar), electronic control units (ZF ProAI and Safety Domain ECU) and intelligent mechanical systems (steering, braking and active suspension systems) that precisely control vehicles in piloted or automated modes.

Mr. Lake received the award at a ceremony in Yokohama, Japan from Yasuhiro Yamauchi, chief competitive officer for Nissan responsible for leading global manufacturing and R&D.

This is the second time in the past three years that ZF has been recognized for its camera technology developments by Nissan, following the launch of its second generation camera sensor (S-Cam2) on the Qashqai and X-Trail models in 2014.

ZF is a world leader in the design, development and supply of forward-looking camera technology and supplies more than a dozen leading automakers.