Honda Sensing 360 assistance system unveiled – application roll-out with vehicle launch next year

Honda has unveiled Honda Sensing 360, an omnidirectional safety and driver assistance system that aims to remove blind spots around the vehicle for the driver, aiding in avoiding collisions as well as to reduce driver workload during the operation of the vehicle.

Designed as part of Honda’s aim for a “collision-free society for everyone sharing the road,” Honda Sensing 360 builds upon the Honda Sensing system first introduced in 2014, and here enables 360-degree detection with the addition of five units of millimetre-wave radar – one forward facing and at each corner of the vehicle – in addition to the monocular camera currently in the Honda Sensing suite.

The development enables the advancement of systems such as the collision mitigation braking system (CMBS, a form of AEB), front cross traffic warning, lane change collision mitigation, active lane change assist and cornering speed assist.

Here, the further development of CMBS means it now has a broader range of detection that has been expanded from the front of the vehicle, to include all directions around the vehicle. In practice, this means the Honda Sensing 360-equipped vehicle will be able to detect, and avoid or mitigate collision with another vehicle or pedestrian entering the intersection at the same time from different directions.

For front cross traffic warning, the system informs the driver of vehicles approaching the same intersection from the side and the front. If there is a risk of collision, audio and visual warnings will be emitted to alert the driver for them to take evasive action.

Lane change manoevures can also be assisted by Honda Sensing 360. Lane change collision mitigation detects vehicles in the next lane approaching from behind, and provide audio and visual warnings from the driver to take evasive action. Active lane change assist is enabled when adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow and lane keeping assist systems are active, when certain conditions on the highway are met.

Highway driving is further assisted with cornering speed assist, which is active when the Honda Sensing 360-equipped vehicle takes a bend on the highway with ACC engaged. Here, the vehicle uses its front camera for the system to detect the curvature of the road, and inputs commands to the vehicle to adjust its speed in order to smoothly navigate the bend.

Knowledge gained from the research and development of Level 3 autonomous driving technologies – namely, Honda Sensing Elite as featured in the Honda Legend Hybrid EX – has been leveraged for the development of Honda Sensing 360, according to the manufacturer.

Rollout of the Honda Sensing 360 suite will start next year with the launch of automobile product that will be for the Chinese market, says Honda, and it aims to grow it application to all models in all major markets by 2030.