The company also expects automakers to adopt Autoware to develop their own autonomous vehicles, and Suzuki and Isuzu Motors have already invested in Tier IV. In this sense, the Tier IV strategy is different from that of Waymo an American company that is vertically integrating the development of much of the technology needed for self-driving taxis.
A good role model
In rural Japan, public transport infrastructure such as trains and buses are being shut down one after another, and Japan’s ageing population has led to a severe shortage of taxi and bus drivers. Given this situation, regulators have raised the possibility that self-driving taxis would no longer need approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism if they operate jointly with existing taxi companies.
Even now, self-driving taxis can operate as long as there is a person in the driver’s seat who also acts as a supervisor, so robotaxis are easy to introduce into an area even if there is a shortage of professional drivers. Even if fully autonomous driving is achieved, there is a good chance that it will be possible to respond via remote monitoring in some areas.
Tier IV hopes that by quickly demonstrating its autonomous taxi model, more corporate partners will adopt the company’s technology and hardware to offer services. “We believe that it would be enough for us to market our own areas in about three locations,” says Tier IV’s Kato. “By making this a reference model, we want to make it easier for partner companies to implement their services.”
In other words, just as Google has developed its Pixel series as a model in the Android smartphone world, it would make sense for Tier IV to package and provide everything from the platform to the solutions and vehicles needed to run it, and demonstrate its commercial operation as a package.
The company also wants to distribute Autoware worldwide. “Japan is the only country that showcases the service as a reference model,” says Kato, “but we are considering offering software, hardware, solutions and other things to the global market.” In fact, Autoware is most widely used in China and is spreading to the United States, Taiwan and other countries.
“In the future, we will be able to respond flexibly to requests based on region and demand, supplying only software, only parts, or even complete vehicles and systems,” says Kato. “Which part will take up the most weight will depend on the country or region, and frankly, we don’t know yet. Still, we want to be able to provide everything if there is demand.”