make is getting the drift … for safety.
Toyota has built a self-drifting Supra sports car.
(Toyota)
The automaker has built a Supra sports car with the capability of performing drift racing-style driving on a track.
The project is a collaboration with Stanford University’s Dynamic Design Lab, which has previously demonstrated a self-drifting DeLorean.
(Stanford University Dynamic Design Lab)
The project is a collaboration between the Toyota Research Institute and Stanford University’s Dynamic Design Lab, which has previously demonstrated a DeLorean with similar technology.
Toyota isn’t working on the project for fun, but to create better automated safety assistance systems that can control a car “beyond normal limits of handling.”
The Supra negotiated the course without steering and throttle input from the test driver onboard.
(Toyota)
The Supra was set up like a Formula Drift series car, equipped with automated driving controls and programmed with the track layout and location of the obstacles placed on it, but it had to adjust its steering and speed every 20th of a second on its own to negotiate the course beyond the grip of the tires at high yaw angles.
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Toyota will use the data to develop driving aids for its future vehicles.
