Toyota is building a closed-course testing facility in southeastern Michigan to develop automated vehicle technology.
The Toyota Research Institute announced Thursday it filed construction permits to build the facility at a vehicle proving ground in the Monroe County community of Ottawa Lake near the Ohio boundary. It's expected to be open in October and replicate driving situations deemed too dangerous for public roads.
The institute is leasing land from the Michigan Technical Resource Park and building inside its 1.75-mile oval test track. The facility will include a simulated congested urban environment, slick surfaces and a four-lane divided highway with entrance and exit ramps.
Toyota aims to create "a human-driven vehicle ... incapable of causing a crash."
The facility builds on Toyota's automated vehicle testing at sites in Michigan and California.
