Toyota today announced its mobility transport robot and its violin playing robot. The violin playing robot is (obviously) a dextrous robot that has 17 joints in its arms. That allows for some pretty precise movement. The transport robot allows folks who have trouble with mobility to navigate things like stairs. Toyota said that practical development of both could be achieved in the 2010’s.
Outline of new Toyota Partner Robots
| Name | Mobility Robot | Violin-playing Robot | ||||||||||||||||||
| Main use | Assistance with short-distance personal transport | Assistance with domestic duties and nursing and medical care | ||||||||||||||||||
| Features | Can negotiate steps with independent vertical movement of left and right wheels, allowing it to assist in short-distance personal mobility
|
Easy-to-become-familiar-with bipedal robot, capable of performing a variety of tasks with its hands and arms
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Future plans | Practical use trial at a TMC-related facility from the latter half of 2008 | Advancing further development of hand and arm flexibility in order to be able to use general purpose tools | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1,000mm (at rest); 1,100mm (in motion) | 1,522mm | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 150kg | 56kg | ||||||||||||||||||
| Photographs |  |
 |
Here’s a video of the violin player in action.
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
Toyota are definitely on some long term mission.