Toyota quantum research is a long bet on physics that could one day outperform the sensors and data links vehicles depend on today
Toyota quantum research is set to expand under a multi-year deal with the University of Chicago, funded by up to US$1m a year from the automaker. Five opening projects will study how quantum technology could sharpen vehicle sensing, secure vehicle data and uncover new energy storage materials.
Laboratory quantum sensors can detect environmental change with far greater precision than today’s systems, and the teams will test whether that carries over to vehicles. Other projects will look at securing data flowing between cars, roadside infrastructure and control centres, and at simulating new sensor materials.
The horizon is long, putting the work well ahead of any production vehicle. Giulia Galli, a leader of the theory team, said it could inform energy storage analysis over 20 years.
“By pairing academic discovery with industrial insights, we can accelerate the timeline for bringing quantum technologies out of the lab and into real-world transportation systems,” David Awschalom, Director of the Chicago Quantum Institute and the initiative’s lead researcher, said. “This collaboration with Toyota offers extraordinary opportunities to push the boundaries of research in science and engineering.”
The first phase funds up to eight graduate students at the university’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. A steering committee with the Toyota Research Institute of North America oversees the projects, and two Toyota scientists already work in the Galli and Awschalom labs.
Source: Toyota
Source: www.automotiveworld.com
