Toyota builds an autonomous drift Supra to develop advanced driver assistance systems
Remember the electric, autonomous drift DeLorean that Stanford University researchers built? It’s hard to forget, but now those researchers have a new toy. Toyota has joined the good folks at Stanford’s Dynamic Design Lab, and it’s brought a Supra along for the ride. This Supra isn’t like any other Supra, though. Just like the electric DeLorean, this one is designed to drift around autonomously. Check it out in action in the video above.
The goal of this project is to bring together the instincts of professional drivers and automated driving technology, then design new active safety technology harnessing what was learned.
“The reality is that every driver has vulnerabilities, and to avoid a crash, drivers often need to make maneuvers that are beyond their abilities, says Gill Pratt, TRI (Toyota Research Institute) CEO and Chief Scientist at Toyota. “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.”
The new Supra is meant to take things further than what Stanford has already done with its proof-of-concept. At this stage, Toyota is trying to apply the autonomous tech architecture to actual vehicle platforms. The drift Supra you see here is first up. TRD provided its aid in making it the racecar drifter that it is, but technical details of the car were not spelled out by Toyota. The car is capable of entering and sustaining a drift with no driver input on a skid pad, which is rather trippy to watch.
“Since 2008, our lab has taken inspiration from human race car drivers in designing algorithms that enable automated vehicles to handle the most challenging emergencies,” says Professor Chris Gerdes of Stanford University’s Dynamic Design Laboratory. “Through this research, we have the opportunity to move these ideas much closer to saving lives on the road.”
There’s still no obvious timeline for any of the tech being tested here to show up in a production vehicle. However, Toyota says it plans to share the research “broadly so that Toyota and other auto manufacturers can deploy it on the road.”
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