New Toyota tech unit promises world’s safest drive, Auto News, ET Auto

TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp unveiled its Woven Planet analysis unit at a digital media occasion on Friday, promising to ship the world’s “most secure mobility” as competitors heats as much as develop self-driving and related automobiles.

Within the on-line presentation, dubbed “The Genesis”, Woven Planet executives offered few hints into particular options within the pipeline, however stated a brand new assisted-driving system can be mounted on the corporate’s passenger automobiles by the tip of this 12 months.

The corporate additionally stated it might be able to unveil a totally self-driving prototype “within the close to future”, with out elaborating.

As conventional automakers face competitors from the likes of Apple, Amazon and Sony, Toyota is trying to marry Woven Planet’s Silicon Valley strategy with its storied Toyota Manufacturing System manufacturing course of to develop the following era of automobiles.

Totally self-driven automobiles are nonetheless prone to be years away, however rival Normal Motors Co this month made a splash on the digital Shopper Electronics Present (CES) with a fully-autonomous all-electric flying Cadillac idea, whereas Chinese language search engine operator Baidu unveiled a partnership with native automotive model Geely.

Led by ex-Google roboticist James Kuffner, Woven Planet additionally says it has the benefit of scale in gathering information – key to creating synthetic intelligence-aided software program – via the tens of tens of millions of Toyota automobiles on the highway worldwide. Toyota retook the crown as world’s best-selling automaker in 2020, unseating Volkswagen AG.

“That is actually solely the start,” Kuffner stated in a pre-recorded presentation, the place he launched key executives from the Woven Planet Group, together with founding household scion Daisuke Toyoda, son of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda.

“We’re simply getting began with our know-how and innovation to alter the world,” Kuffner stated.

Toyota final 12 months unveiled plans to construct a prototype “metropolis of the long run” known as Woven Metropolis on the base of Mount Fuji powered by hydrogen gas cells that may be a laboratory for autonomous automobiles.