The Incredible Level-5 Autonomous Driving Equipment Lexus Is Bringing To CES

Toyota has released images of the newest self-driving hardware array it has developed to meet level-5 autonomous vehicle operation.

Called Platform 3.0, Toyota will show off the new self-driving equipment at CES this week in Las Vegas. The third-generation sensor hardware is now more streamlined and approaching a level that could be incorporated into operation vehicles in general use. We previously covered the first generation and second generation arrays, which were much larger, much more industrial and laboratory-looking in nature and clearly not ready for prime time.

“Our team has once again rapidly advanced our automated vehicle research capabilities,” said Dr. Gill Pratt, TRI CEO and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) Fellow. “To elevate our test platform to a new level, we tapped Toyota’s design and engineering expertise to create an all-new test platform that has the potential to be a benchmark in function and style.”

Toyota's Platform 3.0 sensor package incorporates Luminar LIDAR system with 200-meter range, which now covers the vehicle’s complete 360-degree perimeter. This technology is enabled by four high-resolution LIDAR scanning heads, which precisely detect objects in the environment including difficult to track dark objects. The new platform also uses shorter-range LIDAR sensors on all four sides of the vehicle that can detect low-level and smaller objects like children and road debris.

TRI teamed with Toyota's CALTY Design Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. and engineers at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development (TMNA R&D) to lower the profile of, and to conceal the system's sensors and cameras. CALTY created a new rooftop weather and temperature proof panel, which uses available space in the sunroof compartment to minimize the overall height of the array.

See Toyota’s CES exhibit first-hand in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center beginning Tues., Jan. 9.