Today on In Case You Missed It: While we're all focused on cars becoming autonomous and electric, automakers have also been making important advancements in safety. No where is that more apparent than in a collision between a 1998 Toyota Corolla and its 2015 counterpart conducted by New Zealand's ANCAP. The safety advisory slammed the two vehicles into each other head first. It's impressive to see the difference between 2015 model with its mostly intact cab and the car built in 1998 which is so mangled there's a good chance the person behind the wheel would not have survived. Meanwhile, while you usually associate search and rescue with people in yellow vests and dogs, researchers at UC San Diego have created a tiny robot that walks by inflating and deflating the bladders in its legs.

The automotive industry may have turned its sights to self-driving cars and smart technology, but what really sets today's cars apart from their predecessors is something far more important – they're much, much safer. Cars built in the year 2000 or earlier account for more than a third of fatal crashes, according to a new analysis from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program. As shocking footage from recent crash tests reveals the dramatic difference between older cars and those made in the last few years, experts warn that these at-risk vehicles also tend to be operated by the most at-risk drivers. In the tests, cars were driven toward a head-on collision at 64 kilometers per hour. While newer cars were found to perform'very well,' older vehicles did not hold up well at all, with severe consequences for the dummy driver inside In the tests, cars were driven toward a head-on collision at 64 kilometers per hour.

Fast reactions can help you drive defensively and avoid collisions. Many of the autonomous features in cars have reactive ability, such as adaptive cruise-control systems that adjust speed by sensing the distance from and the speed of the vehicle ahead. Toyota Motors wants its cars to go beyond reaction to prediction and evasion. To accomplish those more complex functions, Toyota is going to rely heavily on artificial intelligence, according to Reuters. Like Ford and Honda, Toyota is investing heavily in AI and robotics to improve safety and performance in the fast-approaching world of self-driving cars.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp is targeting developing in the next five years driver assistance systems that integrate artificial intelligence to improve vehicle safety, the head of its advanced research division said. Gill Pratt, CEO of recently set up Toyota Research Institute (TRI), the Japanese automaker's research and development company that focuses on AI, said it aims to improve car safety by enabling vehicles to anticipate and avoid potential accident situations. Toyota has said the institute will spend 1 billion over the next five years, as competition to develop self-driving cars intensifies. Earlier this month, home rival Honda Motor Co said it was setting up a new research body which would focus on artificial intelligence, joining other global automakers which are investing in robotics research, including Ford and Volkswagen AG. "Some of the things that are in car safety, which is a near-term priority, I'm very confident that we will have some advances come out during the next five years," Pratt told reporters late last week in comments embargoed for Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp is targeting developing in the next five years driver assistance systems that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to improve vehicle safety, the head of its advanced research division said. Gill Pratt, CEO of recently set up Toyota Research Institute (TRI), the Japanese automaker's research and development company that focuses on AI, said it aims to improve car safety by enabling vehicles to anticipate and avoid potential accident situations. Toyota has said the institute will spend 1 billion over the next five years, as competition to develop self-driving cars intensifies. Earlier this month, home rival Honda Motor Co said it was setting up a new research body which would focus on artificial intelligence, joining other global automakers which are investing in robotics research, including Ford and Volkswagen AG . "Some of the things that are in car safety, which is a near-term priority, I'm very confident that we will have some advances come out during the next five years," Pratt told reporters late last week in comments embargoed for Monday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp is targeting developing in the next five years driver assistance systems that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to improve vehicle safety, the head of its advanced research division said. Gill Pratt, CEO of recently set up Toyota Research Institute (TRI), the Japanese automaker's research and development company that focuses on AI, said it aims to improve car safety by enabling vehicles to anticipate and avoid potential accident situations. Toyota has said the institute will spend 1 billion over the next five years, as competition to develop self-driving cars intensifies. Earlier this month, home rival Honda Motor Co said it was setting up a new research body which would focus on artificial intelligence, joining other global automakers which are investing in robotics research, including Ford and Volkswagen AG VOWG_p.DE . "Some of the things that are in car safety, which is a near-term priority, I'm very confident that we will have some advances come out during the next five years," Pratt told reporters late last week in comments embargoed for Monday.

Japanese car firm Toyota has said it aims to deliver smart cars with artificial intelligence within the next five years. According to Gill Pratt, head of the Toyota Research Institute, the firm is looking to boost car safety by enabling vehicles to anticipate and avoid potential accident situations using AI. Toyota has said the institute will spend 1 billion ( 682 million) over the next five years, as competition to develop self-driving cars intensifies. Japanese car firm Toyota has said it aims to deliver smart cars with artificial intelligence within the next five years. Head of head of the Toyota Research Institute - the car maker's advanced research division - said the firm is looking to boost car safety by enabling vehicles to anticipate and avoid potential accidents using AI The Japanese car manufacturer announced last year it would invest 1 billion ( 682 million) over the next five years.