This feat was recently achieved by Stanford University and Toyota Research Institute. The two teamed up to find a way to get two autonomously driven Toyota Supras to successfully pull off drifting while driving in tandem. Achieving this milestone has “far-reaching implications for building advanced safety systems” in the vehicles of tomorrow.
For example, cars could one day come with an AI system that can ensure safe passage in slippery road conditions. The physics of drifting is actually very similar to how cars behave when driving on ice or snow, so an AI that has been trained as an expert drifter could take over if the human driver starts to lose control on a snowy road.
