In a press conference on Sep 8, Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota announced that it will be investing $50M in AI research centres focused on artificially intelligent cars. The research centres will be a joint collaboration between Standford and MIT.
Toyota’s project leader Gill Prat has an extensive experience in the robotics field as he worked as a Program Manager for DARPA responsible for the DARPA Robotics Challenge. Prat will be coordinating with the AI research centres at Stanford and MIT over the 5-year long autonomous car project.
The benefits of AI cars range from assisted driving for the elderly (a major concern in Japan’s ageing population) to reducing traffic accidents through the use of intelligent sensors and auto-response systems. According to Elon Musk of Tesla, one of the biggest challenges in driverless car software is the accurate recognition of road signs and the ability to distinguish them from other stains or marks on the road.
The Stanford AI Lab (SAIL) has a strong reputation in AI development and its researchers have been winning autonomous driving competitions. The Standford Racing Team has also proven itself in the DARPA Grand Challenge (also known as the Urban Challenge) which is a show-down for robotic vehicles.
Google is currently winning the driverless car race with a test model already on the roads. Apple and Tesla are rumored to be close behind – with Tesla in the testing zone in San Fransisco and Pacific Southwest and Apple looking for a suitable location to start testing. Competition will toughen up with the iCar on the road, as Apple innovations tend to swamp the market thanks to its glamour appeal.