The research and development of intelligent vehicle and mobility technologies will get a major boost in an ambitious new collaboration between Toyota Motor Company (TMC), Stanford University and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) recently announced that it will be investing approximately US$50m over the next five years to establish joint research centers at each of the US universities. Additionally, Dr Gill Pratt, former program manager at DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and leader of its recent Robotics Challenge, has joined Toyota to direct and accelerate these research activities and their application to intelligent vehicles and robotics.
Kiyotaka Ise, TMC senior managing officer and chief officer, R&D Group, said, “We’re here today to mark the beginning of an unprecedented commitment. We will initially focus on the acceleration of intelligent vehicle technology, with the immediate goal of helping eliminate traffic casualties and the ultimate goal of helping improve quality of life through enhanced mobility and robotics.”
Pratt said, “Key program areas will be addressed by the two university campuses and Toyota, with combined research targeted at improving the ability of intelligent vehicle technologies to recognize objects around the vehicle in diverse environments, provide elevated judgment of surrounding conditions, and safely collaborate with vehicle occupants, other vehicles, and pedestrians.”
September 10, 2015
