There is no question that Nissan wants to be one of the companies leading the research on self-driving cars. The company plans to have as many as ten models with such capabilities by the year 2020. However, while the tech behind these vehicles is astonishing, even to the layperson, the company also recognizes situations in which the technology might fail. Nissan presents the Seamless Autonomous Mobility system (also known as SAM) as a solution to this problem.
In the event that the vehicle detects a situation it knows is beyond its programming, it will come to a rest. From that point, it will then contact a remote command center for further instructions. In the same way that a referee makes a call based on available information, SAM will rely on mobility managers to assess the situation and then provide the vehicle with the instructions it requires. Using visuals and hard data, a safe path/course of action will be determined for the vehicle and then it will be given the ability to resume self-driving.
Nissan elaborated on the measure by indicating that they are taking their cues from NASA when it comes to accepting the fact that there will be times in which the car does not know how to handle itself. NASA employs something similar to what Nissan would like to achieve with SAM. It is known as VERVE.
The car company further indicated that this will be a measure that all cars will eventually be able to adopt. It will not merely be limited to the vehicles they make.