Toyota, NTT Invest $3bn In Autonomous Driving

Carmaking giant Toyota and telecoms firm NTT are to invest 500 billion yen ($3.3bn, £2.5bn) in research and development to create artificial intelligence (AI) software that can anticipate accidents and take control of a car, Nikkei reported on Tuesday.

The system is to use next-generation optical communications infrastructure being developed by NTT to handle the large amounts of data involved, Nippon.com reported, like Nikkei citing unnamed sources.

The companies plan to have a system ready by 2028 and to provide it to other automakers on a commercial basis.

The driver-assistance feature envisioned by the companies involves monitoring traffic around the car through sensors, with AI used to analyse the data in real-time to detect when an accident is about to occur, taking control of the vehicle and controlling it to attempt to avoid the accident.

Image credit: Intel

Accident prevention

The system is to use the IOWN next-generation optical communications platform being developed by NTT, which uses light instead of electrical signals to increase communications capacity and save power.

The platform is expected to support the so-called 6G standard expected to replace the 5G large-capacity ultrahigh-speed wireless communications standard.

The companies worked together in 2017 to develop 5G-connected cars and worked together on a smart city project in 2020.

Japanese carmakers are attempting to develop market share in advanced driver-assistance and autonomous driving technology, which is currently dominated by Tesla and numerous Chinese automakers.

European carmakers are also developing such systems, with Mercedes-Benz in August becoming the first foreign auto firm to be granted permission to test Level 4 fully autonomous vehicle tests on designated roads and motorways in Chinese capital Beijing.

Advanced driver-assistance

Mercedes said road tests for Level 4 self-driving would cover moves such as parking, U-turns, entering and exiting roundabouts, passing through toll booths and changing lanes when the vehicle in front slows down.

Level 4 allows a car to “do the driving for most scenarios without human takeover”, the company said.

Such vehicles are considered fully autonomous and able to navigate without the need for a human driver, although a driver can request to take over.

Mercedes said it would test systems with two S-Class sedans equipped with sensors including lidar, millimetre-wave radar and cameras.

Matthew Broersma

Matt Broersma is a long standing tech freelance, who has worked for Ziff-Davis, ZDnet and other leading publications

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