SAN FRANCISCO: The first autonomous test vehicle developed entirely by Toyota Research Institute (TRI) was shown recently at the company’s Prius Challenge event in Sonoma, California.
The 2.0 generation advanced safety research vehicle will be used to explore a full range of autonomous driving capabilities.
“This new advanced safety research vehicle is the first autonomous testing platform developed entirely by TRI, and reflects the rapid progress of our autonomous driving programme,” said TRI CEO Gill Pratt.
The platform is the second generation of the advanced safety research vehicle revealed to the public by Toyota at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show.
It is built on a current generation Lexus LS 600hL.
The 2.0 is designed to be a flexible, plug-and-play test platform that can be upgraded continuously and often.
“Basically, it is a smart vehicle designed to get smarter over time,” said Pratt.
“It will learn individual driver habits and abilities and will benefit from shared intelligence from other cars as data gathering, sharing and connectivity technologies advance.”
Toyota’s approach to Automatic Emergency Braking shows a similar commitment.
It will be standard equipment on nearly every model and trim level of Lexus and Toyota vehicles in the US by the end of 2017, five years ahead of NHTSA’s 2022 target date.
