The future of mobility promises to bring comfort, safety and convenience to our lives. Realizing this vision presents significant research challenges in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Material Science. 

 

Research Areas

 

 
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Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science

From perception to action and in-between, TRI is looking at novel approaches to machine learning and deep neural networks that will permit safe and reliable partnering between machine and human drivers.

 

 
 

Home Robotics and Assistive Technologies

As the need for more in-home care increases with an aging population, what are the types of assistive technologies that will bring the most happiness and value to the home? What kinds of machines, and what types of interactions will be seen as helpful - with robotic devices to handle mundane household tasks?

 
 

Materials Design and Discovery

How can we identify - or design - novel materials that break through barriers that are accepted as fact? What visual or other interactive techniques can help humans see new approaches, guided by AI technologies, to discover breakthrough materials? 

Grand Challenges

 

The primary challenges for TRI are contained in the goals outlined by CEO Gill Pratt in January, 2016:
 

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We wish to enhance the safety of automobiles with the ultimate goal of creating a car that is incapable of causing a crash, regardless of the skill or condition of the driver.

 
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We want to increase access to cars to those who otherwise cannot drive, including older persons and those with special needs.

 

We plan to help translate Toyota’s expertise in creating products for outdoor mobility into products for indoor mobility. In other words, Toyota’s goal is to move people across the room… across town… and across the country.

 

We hope to accelerate scientific discovery by applying techniques from artificial intelligence and machine learning particularly in the area of materials science.

Academic Partnerships

 

TRI is pleased to sponsor significant research projects at top universities in the US and around the world. In 2015 we announced a $50 Million investment in research collaboration with Stanford and MIT. These five year collaborative research agreements allow open-ended research in areas that are important to TRI’s mission, plus more directed research to contribute to corporate goals in the next 3-5 years. Together we seek to advance the state of science and contribute to the research community through new discoveries, data, algorithms, while enabling a new group of young researchers to realize their dreams of completing the PhD degree.

At MIT's CSAIL laboratory researchers are a broad spectrum of research projects from parallel autonomy to self awareness. Stanford's SAIL laboratory is engaged in research projects that include human-computer and human-robot interactions. Other university outreach programs are being explored. Together we intend to advance the state of the science for the community while providing new technologies and platforms for our engineers to use as they build the future world of mobility.