April 29, 2022—Toyota's Collaborative Safety Research Center has announced nine projects that will be put into motion with the intent of automotive safety research at the forefront. This endeavor is backed by a $30 million commitment that the company announced last year.
According to a press release, these projects will focus on the concept of safer mobility, and will include input from multiple universities and institutions.
"The foundation of CSRC is built on collaborations to tap outstanding safety researchers and institutions throughout the country, and we're excited to continue these strategic partnerships into the future," said Danil Prokhorov, director of Toyota's CSRC and Future Research Department in the press release. "As we explore inclusive safety technologies for meeting unique and ever-evolving needs in our pursuit of mobility for all, we'll also continue to publish our CSRC research discoveries for others to help foster societal benefit."
Of these nine projects, 3 of them will feature distinctly collision-related elements. These include a project surrounding an investigation of educating misinformed users about safety technology as well as risk-anticipation studies that seek to implement interactive tools that help drivers identify hazards. Both of these will be run through the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The third project will look to use driver assistance technology with the intention to help drivers organically avoid intersection crashes. This will be conducted at Virginia Tech; Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
Toyota created CSRC in 2011, and it has received $85 million throughout its initial 10 years to fund safety research that aims to advance overall traffic safety. Areas of interest in its research have included the factors that contribute to distracted driving as well as ADAS developments. CSRC has completed 85 research projects since its founding with the help of over 30 institutions.
