Meet the self-drifting Toyota GR Supra designed to save lives

The self-drifting Toyota GR Supra (above) is helping to reduce traffic accidents. Photos: Toyota

Meet the world’s first (and only) self-drifting Toyota GR Supra that has been created by a joint collaboration of researchers at Toyota Research Institute in Silicon Valley, and Stanford’s Dynamic Design Lab, with the aim of reducing road traffic accidents.

Based around the question, ‘What if every driver who ran into trouble had the instinctive reflexes of a professional race car driver and the calculated foresight of a supercomputer to avoid a crash?’ the self-drifting GR Supra is seeking to combine the technology of vehicle automation with artificial intelligence algorithms.

Inspired by professional drift drivers, the engineers are conducting research on how to bring together the instincts of racing drivers and automated driving technology, with the self-drifting GR Supra as their testbed. The end goal is to design a new level of active safety technology and share it broadly so that Toyota and other auto manufacturers can deploy it on the road.

“Every day, there are deadly vehicle crashes that result from extreme situations where most drivers would need superhuman skills to avoid a collision,” said Gill Pratt, TRI CEO and Chief Scientist at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). 

“The reality is that every driver has vulnerabilities, and to avoid a crash, drivers often need to make maneuvers that are beyond their abilities. Through this project, TRI will learn from some of the most skilled drivers in the world to develop sophisticated control algorithms that amplify human driving abilities and keep people safe.”

The team of professional drifters (above) worked on creating the special Supra.

There are about 1.25 million fatalities worldwide every year. While most crashes occur in mundane situations, in other situations drivers may need to make manoeuvres that take their vehicle close to and, at times, exceed normal limits of handling. When faced with wet or slippery roads, for instance, professional drivers may choose to ‘drift’ the car through a turn.

Stanford’s experimental results produced a proof-of-concept architecture capable of controlling a rear-wheel-drive vehicle in a drift using brakes, steering and propulsion. TRI is now applying this architecture to vehicle platforms, including the GR Supra.

Separately, TRI is also working with Toyota Motor Corporation’s Vehicle Dynamics Control Team — based in Japan — to apply the drifting architecture for future Toyota vehicles.