Toyota to launch research base to study driverless cars

Toyota to launch research base to study driverless cars

Toyota has announced that it will partner with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) at its Ann Arbor campus to study autonomous vehicles.

Toyota said it has four goals for the Ann Arbor project. First, it will work toward its ultimate goal of creating a car that is incapable of causing a crash, regardless of the skill or condition of the driver. Second, it will work to increase access to cars for those who otherwise cannot drive, including seniors and those with special needs. Third, it will create products for indoor mobility, moving people and goods across the country, across town or across the room. And fourth, it will apply techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning to lower costs and improve performance of future mobility systems.

–Where we need autonomy to help the most is when the driving is difficult,” said Dr. Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute. –Toyotaês goal is safer mobility for all, at any time, in any place, and the tremendous improvements in quality of life that such universal mobility can bring.”