Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Toyota Harbours Big Ambitions For 'Partner Robot' Business That Draws On Manufacturing Knowhow

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Dec, 2015 10:49 AM
    TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. is harbouring big ambitions to become a significant player in the growing market for robots that help the elderly and other people get around in everyday life.
     
     
    The company believes it can use its manufacturing expertise to become as crucial in a field it calls "partner robots" as it is to auto-making. Robotics engineers at Toyota currently number only 150 out of a worldwide staff of 300,000 but it is plowing money into research and development.
     
    Toyota last month announced a $1 billion investment in a research company headed by robotics expert Gill Pratt in Silicon Valley to develop artificial intelligence and robotics. It is already working with Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on robotics.
     
    "We are preparing for a future in which people may not be able to drive cars, or they may need artificial intelligence to support them to drive, and once they get off their cars they may need help from partner robots," said Akifumi Tamaoki, general manager of Toyota's partner robot division.
     
    The Japanese government is banking on robotics as a growth industry in a society that's aging at a faster pace than any other industrialized nation. Other companies have jumped in, including Internet company Softbank Corp., which is selling a humanoid that carries on simple conversations.
     
    Speaking to The Associated Press at a Tokyo robot show this week, Tamaoki said Toyota's robotics interests go back decades, including their use in manufacturing at its auto plants. But it now sees the technology as a viable business in its own right.
     
    Some of that impetus comes from the focus of the auto and tech industries on using artificial intelligence to develop cars that can drive autonomously. Google Inc. is trialing driverless vehicles and Toyota's Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co. is especially confident about the technology with plans to start selling such vehicles by 2020.
     
    Honda Motor Co. was a leader in robots with its Asimo walking and talking child-shaped robot, in development for more than two decades. But critics say that effort got sidetracked by focusing too much on duplicating human movements and behaviour, and lost sight of trying to be useful.
     
    Honda officials acknowledge the company went through soul-searching after getting targeted with public criticism when Asimo could do nothing to help people after the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan.
     
    Toyota demonstrated a one-armed partner robot on-wheels loaded with sensors and cameras, earlier this year. The R2-D2 lookalike known as HSR, or Human Support Robot, can pick up after people, bring an item to the bedside or open curtains.
     
    The robot, an improved version of a model first shown in 2012, is not yet for commercial sale. Toyota is collaborating with 10 universities in Japan, with plans to extend that to overseas academic organizations next year, to develop practical uses, Tamaoki said.
     
    Tamaoki believes robots like HSR will gradually become widespread, although that may take another decade.
     
    Among the developments in the works for HSR is another arm, which will allow it to perform more complex tasks, and adding conversational skills. It now comes with a flat panel that works like a videophone or video player, but can't talk.
     
    One research group has proposed using it for taking care of pets, such as jiggling a toy for a lonely cat, according to Toyota.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Upload 'Average' Photo For Better Smartphone Recognition

    Upload 'Average' Photo For Better Smartphone Recognition
    Does your smartphone fail to recognise you at times when you try to use "face unlock" system? Upload an "average" photo of yourself for better recognition.

    Upload 'Average' Photo For Better Smartphone Recognition

    'Facebook Generation' Happier Than Teenagers A Decade Ago

    'Facebook Generation' Happier Than Teenagers A Decade Ago
    Today's "Facebook Generation" is happier and healthier than teenagers a decade ago, finds a new study. Adolescence is a crucial stage in life when you lay the foundation for adulthood.

    'Facebook Generation' Happier Than Teenagers A Decade Ago

    Live-streaming Apps Having A Moment As Twitter Launches Periscope On Heels Of Meerkat Buzz

    Live-streaming Apps Having A Moment As Twitter Launches Periscope On Heels Of Meerkat Buzz
    NEW YORK — Download Periscope, Twitter's just-launched live video-streaming app, and you'll find people broadcasting all sorts of mundane stuff: waiting for AT&T to fix their wiring, getting out of bed in Silicon Valley, looking outside their office window in Chicago.

    Live-streaming Apps Having A Moment As Twitter Launches Periscope On Heels Of Meerkat Buzz

    Watch Out Apple: Luxury Timepiece Maker Tag Heuer To Make Smartwatches With Google And Intel

    Watch Out Apple: Luxury Timepiece Maker Tag Heuer To Make Smartwatches With Google And Intel
    NEW YORK — Watch out Apple: Swiss company Tag Heuer is developing its own smartwatch with tech rivals Google and Intel.

    Watch Out Apple: Luxury Timepiece Maker Tag Heuer To Make Smartwatches With Google And Intel

    Do Parents Share Excessively About Kids On Social Media?

    Do Parents Share Excessively About Kids On Social Media?
    You love to share the pics and videos of your kid's antics on social media. But are you ending up sharing too much? A lot of parents say yes.

    Do Parents Share Excessively About Kids On Social Media?

    Photo Sharing On Social Media Killing Real-life Enjoyment

    Photo Sharing On Social Media Killing Real-life Enjoyment
    Is your penchant for sharing photos on social networking sites preventing you from enjoying real life experiences? May be, suggests a new study.

    Photo Sharing On Social Media Killing Real-life Enjoyment