Toyota is to open a third Toyota Research Institute facility in the US, which will fund studies into artificial intelligence, materials, science and robotics. It will be located in Ann Arbor, close to the University of Michigan campus.
The new centre, known as Tri-Ann, is due to open in June this year and is set to build a 50-strong team. It will join the TRI facility which opened in Palo Alto in January (Tri-Pal) to work with Stanford University, and Tri-Cam in Cambridge, which works with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Toyota also has two well-established technical centres nearby, which have been researching the concept of autonomous vehicles for more than a decade. A group of about 15 team members will transfer to the new Tri-Ann facility when it opens, together with University of Michigan professors Ryan Eustice and Edwin Olson, who will be area leads respectively for mapping/localisation and perception.
The Toyota Research Institute is an enterprise designed to bridge the gap between fundamental research and product development. With initial funding of $1 billion, it has four initial mandates.
The first is to strive to enhance automobile safety with the ultimate goal of creating a car that is incapable of causing a crash, regardless of the skill or condition of the driver.
The second is to work to increase access to vehicles for those who otherwise could not drive, including older people and those with special needs. The third is to help translate Toyota’s expertise in creating products for outdoor mobility into products for indoor mobility.
Finally, TRI will accelerate scientific discovery by applying techniques from artificial intelligence and machine leaning, particularly in the sphere of materials science. This will also help reduce costs and improve the performance of future mobility systems.
Beyond these, TRI is engaging in multiple projects with the three universities and is also pursuing collaboration with other car makers, IT companies, suppliers, research labs and academic institutions for the joint development of autonomous technologies.
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