As Toyota enhances the efficiency of its vehicles, included in improving them overall are advancements in their safety.
This week the company announced both a new high-speed collision avoidance system and a new testing facility in Japan to further develop pedestrian and related safety technologies as well as environmental and fuel-efficiency related innovations.
Pre-collision System: Intelligent Braking From Toyota
Toyota cites statistics from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis that reveal more than 90 percent of rear-end collisions occur when the difference in speed between the following vehicle and the vehicle ahead is within 37 mph (60 kph).
The company used this data along with “real-world collision” data to develop its new Pre-collision System (PCS).
Using millimeter-wave radar, PCS looks ahead for other vehicles in order to prevent a rear-end collision, even at high speeds according to Toyota. Via sound and display alerts, the system prompts the driver to apply the brakes when it detects a potential collision.
PCS also employs braking assist, as well as automatic braking.
When the driver does apply the brakes, Toyota says PCS can slow the vehicle by as much as 60 kph when the speed differential between the following vehicle and the vehicle ahead is 60 kph.
PCS does this by applying twice as much braking force as what average drivers are capable of doing. If the driver doesn’t apply the brakes, PCS will automatically slow the vehicle’s speed by 9 to 18.5 mph.
Toyota materials only refer to PCS as detecting slower vehicles ahead, but the premise of the technology implies that it could also work to recognize non-vehicle objects like trees, signposts, or possibly pedestrians. However, Toyota hasn’t specified PCS is capable of doing so.
The Japanese carmaker says PCS was developed for use in a wide variety of its automobiles, starting with “soon-to-be-launched models.”
Intelligent Transport System Test Site Now Open
Toyota has developed what it calls the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) Proving Ground test site in Japan.
The company says the facility will enable research to develop next-generation vehicle-infrastructure cooperative systems that support safe driving, and will also allow further development of vehicle fuel efficiency.
The ITS, located within the grounds of the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, is a road-to-vehicle communications system consisting of a vehicle detection system, a pedestrian detection system, a course monitoring system, traffic signals, and control devices set in realistic traffic environments.
Think of it as smart cars driving on smart streets, with the aim of creating as safe a driving environment as possible.
The system runs on the 700 MHz band, which Toyota says provides wireless reception over wide areas, making it effective for communications with vehicles at intersections and locations with “poor visibility.”
Communication between these cooperative systems will rely on a continuous exchange of road-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-vehicle and pedestrian-to-vehicle information.
Toyota says it developed the ITS in order to eliminate difficulties associated with testing in real-world settings – like public roadways with very fluid environments – that can often inhibit repeatability of test procedures and resulting evaluations.
The 8.6-acre proving ground is now up and running according to the company.