‘Automated driving’ is different from ‘advanced driver support.’
By Raif Karerat
In an effort to counter Google’s aggressive overtures in the autonomous transportation sector, Toyota announced Tuesday that it plans to produce automobiles that are fully capable of self-driving on highways by about 2020.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Toyota used the term “automated driving†to describe its new system, which allows vehicles to get on and off the highway and change lanes without driver input. The technology had previously been referred to as “advanced driver support.”
“We were afraid that by using the term ‘automated driving,’ people would misunderstand that humans are not involved at all,†said Masahiro Iwasaki, an engineer involved in the development of the technology.
While demonstrating its newest safety technology features to media on Tuesday, Japan’s largest automaker said in their car of the future, drivers would be able to turn the auto-pilot mode on and off with a single switch, reported Reuters.
“We have spent a long time to develop the technology. We have advantages and we want to maintain them as we push forward,†Moritaka Yoshida, Toyota’s chief safety executive, said Tuesday in introducing the self-driving cars.
Toyota also demonstrated another futuristic automated technology called Intelligent Transportation System, which it has been testing on roads in the Toyota city area and Tokyo.
According to the New York Times, a vehicle equipped with ITS technology communicates with sensory-transmission equipment at street corners that detects oncoming cars, as well as pedestrians, and warns the vehicle through data transmission. The warning appears as an image on the dashboard, and the car beeps, which is useful in alerting drivers to cars and pedestrians that pop out from blind spots.
In addition to Google’s self-driving cars, Toyota faces competition closer to home from Nissan, which has also demonstrated car-detection technology on Yokohama roads using a different beaming technology. Toyota’s new transmission system uses a different standard that will be open for use by all automakers in Japan.