Honda R&D Co. Ltd., the R&D subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., is entering into formal discussions with Waymo, an independent company of Alphabet Inc., to integrate its self-driving technology with Honda vehicles. This technical collaboration between Honda researchers and Waymo’s self-driving technology team would allow both companies to learn about the integration of Waymo’s fully self-driving sensors, software and computing platform into Honda vehicles.
As part of the discussion on technical collaboration, Honda could initially provide Waymo with vehicles modified to accommodate Waymo’s self-driving technology. These vehicles would join Waymo’s existing fleet, which are currently being tested across four U.S. cities.
If both parties agree to enter into a formal agreement, Honda R&D engineers based in Silicon Valley, California, and Tochigi, Japan, would work closely with Waymo engineers based in Mountain View, California, and Novi, Michigan.
Honda previously announced its intention to put production vehicles with automated driving capabilities on highways sometime around 2020 related to its goal of a collision-free society. In addition to these ongoing efforts, this technical collaboration with Waymo could allow Honda R&D to explore a different technological approach to bring fully self-driving technology to market, the two companies say.
