Toyota brings Prius Challenge to Sonoma Raceway
Toyota Research Institute (TRI), with an office in Palo Alto, is bringing the Prius Challenge to Sonoma Raceway for a competitive event designed to engage the startup and tech community.
The event will be held March 3, 2017, and will include a team competition where participants strive to optimize their driving using strategies via an app created specifically for the event.
Attendees will also interact with industry leaders in the fields of mobility, robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The Prius Challenge originated at Toyota’s headquarters in Japan, where participants battle it out to see who can achieve the best fuel economy and efficiency rating on a Prius within a target time range. While Toyota employees and dealers have been able to participate in the challenge, this is the first time that members of the public will have the chance to compete.
“TRI is excited to host the Prius Challenge and introduce a competition that will allow participants to use machine learning and sophisticated data analysis tools to test out their theories in the real world,” said Gill Pratt, CEO at Toyota Research Institute, Inc. “Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are a hotbed for automotive talent and innovation, and this event is the perfect opportunity for TRI to engage with the tech community and have some fun in the process.”
This is the third event in the Onramp series sponsored by Toyota. Jason Wiener, winner of the Onramp 2015 Smart Mobility Challenge, will return for Onramp 2017 with his connected car startup, Hyperdrive, by developing an application that enables Prius Challenge contestants to track telemetry data and optimize their performance during the race. Additionally, Open Source Robotics Corporation (OSRC), as part of a partnership with TRI, will provide a driving simulator that allows participants to strategize and practice driving through a virtual program.
“The Toyota Onramp series is a fantastic set of events aimed at driving collaboration between Toyota and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs,” said Wiener. “I hope we will see a great field of competitors out there on the racetrack on March 3 competing to bring home the Prius Cup.”
Toyota Onramp is an invitation-only event. For more information, including details on how to request an invitation or participate go to Prius Challenge.
