By introducing the Advanced Active Safety Research Vehicle (AASRV) in Las Vegas at press conference in the run up to CES 2013, Toyota Lexus division has taken a step toward the autonomous car. Toyota Lexus has introduced this technology in vehicles for the purpose to eliminate the chances of “future traffic fatalities and injuries.”
The AASRV test vehicle is introduced with technology that can be also used for self-driving car but Lexus goal is not this. The basic purpose of this technology is to enhance driving skills instead of taking controls. This tech also assists drivers to avoid accidents. It has been designed to keep the car safe from crash, to prepare the vehicle for the crash event, to eliminate the chances of crash and to rescue the vehicle after a crash event.
There is automated control system installed in AASRV working with various automated control system like HD stereo cameras, Light Detection and Laser Tracking (LIDAR). These all systems can scan the objects up 150 meters (492 ft) away.
This system is equipped with radar on front and different sides of car for the purpose to track the objects and avoid from blind objects while gyroscopes accelerometers and GPS track vehicle’s angle and orientation. The purpose of all this automated equipment is to inform the drivers about the situation so that they can make a better decision well in time.
Few safety features from these new, such as anti-lock brakes, blind-spot monitors and lane-keep assist system are already installed in existing Toyota and Lexus vehicles, but Toyota want to integrate these all into a sedan with new and latest technologies to develop an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).
For different experiments to develop ITS, co has provided a site to the vehicle of 8.6 acre at Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Susono City, Japan which started operation in 2012. This site provides to the vehicle an urbane road environment and also equipped with an automated system vehicle to infrastructure and vehicle to vehicle. This system continuously collects information using waves from the environment and sends crash warnings.
By doing this Toyota aims to develop a system that connect people, infrastructure, vehicles and the environment, like the other automobile manufactures like BMW, GM, and Daimler. This system will also support to develop safer-autonomous vehicles.
