Toyota resumes driverless vehicles after accident | Gadget theory

After an autonomous e-Palette pod vehicle hit a visually impaired athlete in the Tokyo Paralympic Games village, services were stopped indefinitely. Although the athlete was not seriously injured, he withdrew from an event after receiving cuts and bruises. However, Toyota will resume paving services with some changes.

The accident was not serious, but showed the car’s fault

The autonomous vehicles will have more driver control and more staff added to ensure no one else is hit. One of Japan’s members of the judo team, Atamitsu Kitazono, was hit as he was walking at a pedestrian crossing. He did not compete in the 81 kg category after the accident.

Toyota issued a statement saying: “The vehicle’s sensor detected the pedestrian area and activated the automatic brake, and the operator also activated the emergency brake. However, the vehicle and pedestrians came into contact before it came to a complete stop. ”

Toyota also shared that operators will now have control over how fast the cars drive and will increase the safety staff on board from one to two to help keep an eye on pedestrians.

More safety features added include louder warning sounds and an increase in pedestrian guides at busy intersections from six to 20 in total. Toyota has also assured that safety improvements will continue “on a daily basis” until the village closes. The company also shared that it will work with local police to investigate the accident.

The e-palette is used during the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda publicly apologized after the accident took place. He said: A vehicle is stronger than a person, so I was obviously worried about how they were feeling. It shows that autonomous vehicles are not yet realistic for normal roads. ”

He highlighted that it is still quite difficult to operate self-driving vehicles, especially in the circumstances of the village of Paralympics.

The Toyota e-Palette pod is a fully autonomous vehicle adapted for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. They have large doors and electric ramps so large groups of people can get on board.

The company’s goal is to create self-driving cars that are also safe for public roads. The e-Palette was first unveiled at the CES tech show in Las Vegas in 2018, where the company called it “a symbol of mobility that goes beyond cars to deliver customer service and new values.”

It was also when Mr. Toyoda said the company will switch from being a car company to a “mobility company.”

Toyota’s autonomous vehicle