Toyota say they are making significant investments worldwide in future technologies to make personal transport safer, more efficient, and easier to access for mobility-challenged people.
In the past year, Toyota have established the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), spending US$1bn to research artificial intelligence and robotics for future automotive applications, serving as a bridge between scientific research and product development. An additional $50m is being spent during the same period for joint research projects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
Having announced the setting up of research centres in Palo Alto and Cambridge (Massachusetts), TRI have now added a third location in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which will benefit from close links to the University of Michigan and Toyota’s established R&D facilities in the region. Together the three TRI operations will explore fully autonomous driving, so-called “guardian angel driving” where the vehicle assists the driver when required, and simulations to determine how the technologies can successfully be applied in real-world situations. One of Toyota’s key goals is to design a car that is incapable of being involved in accident.
Speaking at the launch of TRI, Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda said: “As technology continues to progress, so does our ability to improve products. We do not pursue innovation simply because we can; we pursue it because we should. It is our responsibility to make life better for our customers and society as a whole.”
In Japan, Toyota have successfully taken automated driving technology onto the public highway, conducting tests of their Highway Teammate concept on Tokyo’s Shuto expressway.
