Toyota’s research team announced its collaboration with different institutions to find ways how to further improve vehicle safety technology. The Japanese automaker’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) launched three projects that are driven to improve safety in the automotive industry.
The three research projects include an in-depth look at driver support features for vehicle lane centering as well as the conceptualization of an in-vehicle intervention prototype to promote safe driving. Toyota’s CSRC will also be working on optimizing technology to help the driver’s decision-making.
Toyota’s CSRC director Danil Prokhorov said that the new projects will further “exemplify” the car brand’s dedication to improving safety in the automotive industry.
Toyota will work hand-in-hand with different institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology Agelab (MITA), University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), and Touchstone Evaluations, Inc. (TEI) for the new research projects.
“By collaborating with researchers to study real-world problems related to mobility technologies, we aim to develop enhanced engineering tools and empower drivers to maximize the potential of advanced technologies,” Prokhorov added.
MITA will work on evaluating the benefits of automated lane-centering support through data collected from volunteer drivers. This research is also geared toward considering the advantages of automated lane-keeping assist, and how it can help promote safe driving.
UMTRI, on the other hand, will develop an in-vehicle prototype tech that can encourage safe driving behavior. It will evaluate if the prototype tech can limit risky driving behavior with the help of volunteer participants.
The third research project, in collaboration with TEI, will focus on analyzing data to quantify the relationships between personality, trip goals, and risky driving behaviors such as speeding, tailgating, and the use of hand-held devices such as mobile phones.
Aside from the new research projects, Toyota has also joined the Vulnerable Road User Injury Prevention Alliance (VIPA) at the University of Michigan International Center for Automotive Medicine. Toyota’s alliance with VIPA will support ongoing research into crashes with shared road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, and e-scooter riders similar to Nissan’s intersection collision avoidance function.
Meanwhile, Toyota also launched a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) technique for designing cars last June 2023. The new technique is said to allow designers to add initial design sketches and engineering constraints into this process, which reduces the need to reconcile design and engineering considerations.
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