Image recognition processor wins highest score in safety performance

The government-sponsored programme assesses the road safety of new vehicles, and the highest ranked are recognised as Advanced Safety Vehicles (ASV). The Toyota Lexus UX and Lexus NX recorded scores of 141 points and, along with the Lexus ES, were evaluated as ASV+++, the highest possible level.

JNCAP was initiated by the Japanese government in 1995 to promote the safety of new cars launched in Japan. It brings together the results of vehicle safety tests carried out by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims' Aid (NASVA).

Tests cover vehicle performance in respect of preventive safety, collision safety, and pedestrian protection. The Preventive Safety Performance Assessment evaluates advanced safety technologies, such as emergency braking.

In 2018, JNCAP introduced evaluation of damage mitigation braking for pedestrians on lit streets at night. This year the standard was made even more rigorous, and now evaluates damage mitigation braking for pedestrian at night on unlit streets.

Toshiba supplies Visconti 4 to Toyota vehicles as an integral part of DENSO Corporation’s Front-Camera-Based Active Safety System. The LSI’s ability to process luminance differences between objects and their backgrounds, realising better detection of pedestrians at night and in low light conditions, helped the Toyota vehicles win high scores in the assessment.The Lexus UX and Lexus NX integrating the system received a high score of 141 points, and all of the Toyota models integrating Visconti™ 4 were evaluated as ASV+++.

Toshiba continues to channel resources into Viscont as a contribution to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The company has already started sample shipments of Visconti 5, which delivers advanced Deep Neural Network IP, in September this year.