丰田认为AI Can Help Solve Boring Designs

Drag, which is an engineering constraint, is one of the things that the new AI tool can incorporate into the process. This allows Toyota's designers to conceptualize a more aerodynamic vehicle design, which can result in producing a more fuel-efficient car.

TRI's AI tech is essentially allowing designers to use text prompts on a prototype sketch while also optimizing quantitative performance metrics such as aerodynamic drag. Toyota believes that this strategy will cut down the revisions on new car designs when engineering constraints are considered.

This approach could be deemed more advantageous compared to how Audi is using AI as a tool to developnext-generation wheel designs. The German automaker developed an AI software that collates old wheel designs to create a new concept, but there's no mention of considering engineering constraints in Audi's process.

TRI's new generative AI tool also intends to speed up the design process of Toyota's new EVs. With the capability to optimize drag, Toyota is optimistic that the new tech will allow its designers to come up with EVs that have a longer driving range.

The AI-based design process could also help bolster the business direction of Toyota's new CEO Koji Sato, which puts focus onramping up the EV portfolioof the automaker. Sato is also driven to introduce Toyota's next-generation EV platform in 2026. Currently, Toyota only offers a single fully electric vehicle, which is thebZ4X.