► A joint project from the TRI and Stanford University
► Should improve driver assistance tech, eventually
Toyota has partnered with Stanford University in America to create an autonomous drifting Toyota Supra to showcase and develop its advanced driver assistance features.
The prototype can hold a respectable slide without driver intervention and was jointly-developed between Stanford University’s Dynamic Design Lab, which created the self-drifting Delorean DMC-12 in late 2019, and Toyota’s Research Institute (TRI).
Toyota Racing Development was said to play a part in making the widebody GR Supra into a drift machine, though no technical upgrade details were divulged.
More than just a showy boast of Toyota’s programming power, the self-drifting Supra was designed to morph the handling instincts of professional drivers and automated driving tech. The goal is to use the learnings from this study to further develop Toyota’s active driver assistance features to av
Engineers at the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and Stanford University's Dynamic Design Lab have built a Toyota Supra that can drift itself. While this sounds frivolous, TRI says the car was designed to "develop sophisticated control algorithms that amplify human driving abilities and keep people safe”. Although most crashes happen in "mundane situations", there are times when drivers have to.
Finally, a fun use for autonomous cars.
According to the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) website, engineers are conducting research into how to bring together the instincts of professional drivers and automated driving technology. Their goal is to design a new level of active safety technology and share it broadly so that Toyota and other auto manufacturers can deploy it on the road.
According to us, they ve found the perfect way of mixing important work with unadulterated fun by taking a prototype racing Toyota GR Supra and having it drift using autonomous driving technology. Oh, and they made a video of it.
Anyone who has driven in snowy climates knows that one of the most important things is to know how to retain control of your car in those treacherous conditions.
That’s what has led researchers at the Toyota Research Institute and at Stanford University’s Dynamic Design Lab to turn to professional drifters and drivers to learn about safety.
“Every day, there are deadly vehicle crashes that result from extreme situations where most drivers would need superhuman skills to avoid a collision,” said Gill Pratt, TRI CEO and Chief Scientist at Toyota. “The reality is that every driver has vulnerabilities, and to avoid a crash, drivers often need to make maneuvers that are beyond their abilities.”