Toyota Research Institute and Stanford University’s Dynamic Design Lab said they are conducting research to design a new level of active safety technology.
The engineers are working to combine the instincts of professional drivers and automated driving technology to reduce vehicle crash-related fatalities.
“The reality is that every driver has vulnerabilities, and to avoid a crash, drivers often need to make maneuvers that are beyond their abilities,” Gill Pratt, the institute’s CEO, said in a statement. “Through this project, TRI will learn from some of the most skilled drivers in the world to develop sophisticated control algorithms that amplify human driving abilities and keep people safe.”
A Toyota spokesman told Automotive News in an email that the research is examining how to control vehicles at their operational limits, including making aggressive vehicle-avoidance maneuvers.
Stanford researchers are experimenting with control over brakes while drifting on an electrified, automated DeLorean.
The institute is separately working with Toyota Motor Corp.’s Vehicle Dynamics Control Team to apply drifting architecture in future Toyota vehicles, according to the press release.
This is a several-year project that does not have a specified timeline. A video about the project can be watched here.
“Our goal for this research is to push the limits on what’s possible,” the spokesman said.
