The car is a 2013 Lexus LS carrying equipment that includes on-board radar and video cameras to monitor the road and the driver. Toyota’s driverless features involve car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure technologies. The cameras and radar equipment can detect traffic signals, lane lines and other vehicles. The technology aims to prevent crashes—a Toyota spokesman said zero collisions are the goal. The car can be driver-assisted or completely self-driving. When a driver is at the wheel, Toyota’s technology could boost safety by detecting obstacles or alerting the driver if the driver is falling asleep.
Toyota refers to its “Intelligent Transport Systems” technology. As part of the ITS concept, beacons detect the positions of pedestrians and obstacles and relay information to the vehicle, on whether a traffic light is green or red. Toyota plans to say more about its autonomous driving technology at a press conference at CES. The vehicle will be shown at the Lexus display.