Autonomous drift show from Toyota Supra

Autonomous, or in other words, driverless vehicles, has become a concept that we have heard frequently in recent years. However, Toyota tried the impossible and programmed the Supra to drift autonomously.

In the autonomous drift show held on a special track by the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a driver took part in the vehicle to step in when necessary. In the video, it is clearly seen that the driver does not interfere with the steering wheel. The vehicle in question has many advanced technologies, including ‘Nonlinear Model Predictive Control’.

Of course, the goal of the Japanese company is beyond presenting an autonomous drift show. Because cars can lose their grip in wet, snowy or icy conditions, and sometimes in situations that require sudden avoidance. That’s what Toyota strives to teach its vehicles to deal with such situations. In this way, advanced driver assistance systems may become more useful.

“Our goal here is not to replace people with advanced technologies, but to support them.” says Avinash Balachandran, senior manager. Researcher Jonathan Goh explains the purpose of developing this program with these words: “Professional drivers can manage to recover their vehicles in wet or slippery road conditions. But let’s face it, most of us are not professional drivers. That’s why we develop a program that recognizes obstacles and drifts around without hitting them.”

The Toyota Supra used in the test was customized to make computer-controlled responses such as gas, brake and gear. In addition, a modification similar to the one in Formula Drift has been applied to the vehicle.