Competition in the automotive world is at the highest it’s ever been. Car companies spending a lot of time and money in researching the newest ways to win over consumers. Sustainability, safety, and utility are some key aims.
One company that stands out is the one that rules them all: Toyota. Toyota is making breakthroughs and making headlines with their newest researches. The company is focused on all the aforementioned factors above.
But what are the highlights of what they’ve accomplished this year?
Toyota Investing Millions In Research
All car manufacturers spend the most that they can on research and development, especially the big ones. There’s been a rise of new car companies that are offering more for less. Plus, covid has hit the industry pretty bad
As a result, the more established automakers are also working hard to maintain their supremacy. Volkswagen plans on spending around $84 billion for R&D. Mercedes plan on spending $40 billion to do the same.
Toyota also announced that they will spend 300 million dollars for new tech and carbon control. Add a sum of $30 million just for safety-related research to this amount. They’ll also spend 36 million dollars on building materials.
Toyota is well known for its safety and reliability. The company believes in dependability and consumer safety. This is why it not only offers you free maintenance for two years. Its parts are also readily available and with a reliable genuine Toyota parts supplier these vehicles will keep running for hundreds of thousands of miles.
The Best New Toyota Technologies
The following are the cool new technologies from Toyota that could be game changers:
Hydrogen Power
The first of the bunch is a new combustion engine. Toyota isn’t so keen on moving to EVs but it does aim for carbon neutrality. They’re developing a new engine that burns hydrogen as fuel.
The system is similar to the current gasoline engines that Toyota use. However, it uses parts that are tougher, stronger and more heat resistant. Toyota is currently testing this tech on the race track in the Corolla Sport H2.
Their results show great improvements in refueling times and efficiency. Toyota also made headlines in utilizing a hydrogen fuel cell. They managed to achieve an insane 845 miles with the Mirai; a FCEV sedan.
Sim-To-Real Technology
Toyota is using machine learning to the full extent that they can. They plan on using it to provide a safer driving experience. One of their achievements in this regard has been a break-through in sim-to-real tech.
Toyota plan on using this to automate their vehicles better. This should help their vehicles become self-learning. They should be able to drive on with just a scalable supervision required of the driver.
Multi-Object Tracking
There are many object tracking systems used in today’s vehicles. These are able to detect obstacles and objects that could obstruct the drive. They then warn the driver of them to prevent a possible collision.
However, there is a problem when it comes to these systems. They cannot track objects from afar or ones that aren’t so visible. Toyota’s new system will try to use the concept of object permanence in humans for better results.
It will help the detection system use cognitive thinking. It will be able to localize the objects better if completely successful. The system will save all the data and become more intelligent with time.
Pseudo-Lidar
Pseudo-lidar is an important concept used in object detection. A system containing this concept usually uses two cameras and the methods of geometry to help identify obstacles and the surroundings.
Toyota are also developing this system. They plan on training it using self-supervision so that its performance may improve. If all goes well, their system will use 3D deep learning to improve safety and pre-collision prevention.
Digital Owners’ Manual
The owners’ manual is one of the most important components that you get with your vehicle. The manual is the go-to guide for an owner which instructs them on the usage of the car, its buttons, service intervals, and whatnot.
However, many people find swiping through the pages of a book to be strenuous. Oftentimes, the owner may misplace, lose, or damage the manual so that it is no good.
All this resulted in Toyota digitizing the whole idea of the manual for the Sienna minivan. It’s in an app, but it’s no ordinary manual. It will contain a 3D model of the car that is very interactive. Voice searches also work well.
Brand New Multimedia
Lastly, Toyota recently revealed their latest Audio Multimedia System. This is a system that will work spectacularly with your mobile phone. It contains cool features such as allowing you to power up the car from your phone.
The system’s voice activated and will also recognize the driver; bringing all of their settings using this tech. One can take these settings to any new Toyota vehicle and they’ll be applied. The Bluetooth’s faster and so is connectivity.