Gadgetory

in fact our safety strategy has five critical components they include the initial time the driver and car begin their journey from a parked position to active safety systems designed to avoid a crash to pre-collision features aimed at preparing for a collision to passive safety technologies to help survive a crash to rescue in response systems after a crash has occurred we call it our integrated safety management concept a key component of this approach focuses on high level driver assist technologies that may at some point in the future evolve into a fully autonomous car the 2013 LS with the world's most advanced pre-collision system uses a combination of millimeter wave radar a stereo camera and near infrared projectors our system is designed to assist the driver and avoiding or mitigating collisions with vehicles and pedestrians under a wide range of speeds day or night now based on the position speed and trajectory of an object if the system anticipates a collision you'll hear a warning sound and a break alert will be illuminated on the instrument panel at the same time several integrated systems automatically activate to increase steering quickness suspension control and brake effectiveness the shocks are stiffened to help control nosedive and increase steering responsiveness and the automatic seatbelt pretensioners are activated our system even applies the brakes automatically to reduce impact speeding the 2013 LS is graphic evidence of how automated technologies have advanced in the last decade so what paths must be explored in the future we believe there are two that seem most compelling a few months ago TMC began full scale operations at its i TS proving ground at the egg asha fuji technical center in japan the facility which simulates an urban environment has communication system the links road to vehicle vehicle to vehicle pedestrian to vehicle traffic signals and control devices while monitoring the entire course the research conducted at our proving grounds will help prevent accidents involving pedestrians and other vehicles improve poor visibility at intersections and much much more through it all toyota motor corporation is dedicated to collaborating with government regulators and cooperating with IT s governing boards to help advance future mobility now whereas i TS is focused on integrating the car with the driving environment our advanced safety research vehicle is aimed at enhancing the car and the driver's ability to perceive process and respond with the aid of onboard automated technologies we believe our approach is unique and that it involves two parallel programs half a world apart exploring different technologies to achieve one common goal now one of these active safety research programs is based in Japan the other in ann arbor michigan at the toyota research institute north america known as Trina patrina program is aimed purely at research the Japan engineering group adds the element of exploring future product development for market integration now this LS hybrid is just one example of the areas we're exploring a Trina it's fitted with advanced GPS forward inside facing radars and high def color cameras 360 degree laser tracking gyroscope accelerometer among many of its other sensor components our goal is a system that constantly perceives processes and responds to its surroundings that scans the movement of objects around it identifies a green light from a red light and measures the trajectory roll pitch and yaw of the vehicle as it steers accelerates and breaks along the most efficient route to its programmed destination an array of equipment processes data formulates decision in an ax by wire responses now as you can imagine we can't discuss specific performance parameters and we can't speculate today on how or when such a car might be available in the marketplace our guess is not in the immediate future and that's how it should be at the moment this is a pure research project with a strong statement of the shape of things to come sensor and by wire technologies have opened the door for machines to recognize and respond to the environment around them beyond even the capabilities of humans however sensing what's around you versus understanding it is vastly different so we must combine the judgement of humans with the precision of machines and that takes time right now machines can handle simple tasks like parking following traffic and staying in a lane but we need to introduce a layered approach that will broaden capabilities step by step we will build trust with society and governments so that vehicles will be allowed to perform more automated tasks these capabilities must be integrated with consistency and reliability before vehicles are trusted to drive along