Both Hyundai and Toyota announced new research initiatives. Toyota is working with five universities on various driver assistance systems. Hyundai’s CRADLE will research, robotic and intelligent systems, eco-friendly technologies, mobility services, materials and new vehicle concepts.
Toyota’s CSRC
Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) announced five new research projects focused on better understanding how drivers use and respond to advanced vehicle technologies, including automated driver assistance systems. The new projects, undertaken in partnership with five U.S. research institutions, will launch as part of CSRC Next, the Center’s new five-year program designed to support and inform a safe transition to future mobility.
The five research projects will launch in partnership with George Mason University, Rockville Institute, University of Washington, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, and San Francisco State University. Data from each project will be shared across the institutions to help speed research, with the results made public to support the advancement of auto safety industrywide.
George Mason University is working on A Neuroergonomic Evaluation of Mental Model Development of Future Automated Driving Technologies. This project is aimed at objectively determining (through neuroergonomic methods) how different factors impact mental model development and evolution of advanced safety technologies.
Rockville Institute’s A Naturalistic Driving Evaluation of Mental Model Development of Future Automated Driving Technologies will develop a taxonomy of mental model development of automotive safety technologies by determining in a naturalistic driving setting how users develop and maintain mental models as AV safety technologies are integrated into the vehicle.
At the University of Washington, Guidelines for Development of Evidenced-Based Countermeasures for Risky Driving will be researched. The overall project objective is to create a set of guidelines that can be used to inform the development of risky driving countermeasures that are evidence-based, guided by theory, and lead to sustained behavioral change.
Effective Stimuli and Behavior for Driving Safety in Automated Driving at San Francisco State University, provides a proof of concept that appropriate behaviors toward perceived risks can be generated automatically and effortlessly after a short form of training that links stimuli to adaptive behavioral dispositions.
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is investigating Guidelines for Development of Evidenced-Based Countermeasures for Risky Driving. The overall project objective is to create a set of guidelines that can be used to inform the development of risky driving countermeasures that are evidence-based, guided by theory, and lead to sustained behavioral change.
Hyundai CRADLE Robotic-augmented Design in Living Experiences
Hyundai Motor Group announced the launch of Hyundai CRADLE, the Center for Robotic-augmented Design in Living Experiences. Formerly Hyundai Ventures, CRADLE will strengthen HMG’s core automotive business and expand into new and adjacent markets with the goal of enhancing transportation on and off the road. The company also plans to expand the Hyundai CRADLE innovation concept globally.
To enhance transportation technology and innovations, CRADLE will operate with three primary functions: strategic venture capital, open collaboration with the startup community and early-stage new concept development. To drive these primary functions, CRADLE’s strategic investments will focus on five themes:
- Robotic and intelligent systems
- Eco-friendly technologies
- Mobility services
- Materials and manufacturing technology
- New vehicle concepts
In keeping with Hyundai’s vision of the future of mobility debuted at CES 2017, the advancement of these technologies will go beyond automotive transportation into many forms of mobility on the road, in the home and beyond.
“In addition to Hyundai Ventures’ purview of identifying and investing in new technologies and markets, CRADLE will drive growth of innovations from their initial conceptualization into the prototype phase and far beyond,” said John Suh, vice president of Hyundai CRADLE. “To this end we will look both externally and internally for innovation and ways to tap new markets and technologies”.
Hyundai Motor has been bolstering efforts to expand cooperation with globally renowned organizations and institutions. These efforts will allow Hyundai Motor to quickly and effectively respond to rapidly changing needs and environments associated with the automotive industry. The goal is to have an ‘open innovation’ philosophy.
Earlier this month, Hyundai Motor announced plans to establish an “Open Innovation Center” in Israel, spearheaded by the Strategy & Technology Division. The Strategy & Technology Division, which launched in February oversees the company’s research in future technologies. These technologies include mobility services, smart cities, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials, eco-friendly energy, robotics, and new platforms.