| Introducing Toyota's humanoid "partner robots" |
Mar. 12, 2004
Toyota released an overview today of its project to develop "partner robots" that are meant to function as personal assistants.
"People around the globe are starting to crave better, more diversified lifestyles," the company said in a statement. "These changes are particularly prominent in Japan where dwindling birth rates and a rapidly aging population are underscoring concerns regarding the need to secure a stable labor force for the future in order for its people to be able to enjoy comfortable standards of living."
Toyota says it wants the partner robots to have humanoid characteristics, "such as being agile, warm and kind and also intelligent enough to skillfully operate a variety of devices in the areas of personal assistance, care for the elderly, manufacturing, and mobility."
 
Accordingly, the company says it is developing three types of partner robots, which are summarized in the following table.
| Type: | Walking | Rolling | Mountable | | Main areas of application: | Assistance, elderly care | Manufacturing, mobility | Elderly care, mobility | | Features: | The walking model walks on two legs similar to a person, making it easy to become accustomed to. It is able to use its hands to carry out a wide variety of tasks. | The rolling model zooms along quickly without taking up much space. It is able to use its hands to carry out a wide variety of tasks. | The mountable model is capable of carrying its passengers almost anywhere they need to go. It is fun to ride and operate. | | Height: | 120 cm | 100 cm | 180 cm | | Weight: | 35 kg | 35 kg | 75 kg |
Toyota says it is developing the following "advanced technologies" for use in its partner robots: - Artificial lips -- In order to enable the robots to play musical instruments, Toyota says has developed artificial lips that it claims move with the same finesse as human lips, which, together with robots' hands, enable the robots to play trumpets like humans do.
- Mobility control technology -- Through the expanded development of the driving control technologies for automobiles, Toyota came up with the new stabilizing technologies for robots. A small, light-weight and low-cost high-precision-sensors, developed based upon automotive sensor technology, are used as an attitude sensor that detects a tilt of a robot.
 In addition to the above robots, a "wire-operation system" robot is also being developed. Power source actuators are located on its torso, and wires are used to move the arms and legs. As a result, the weight of the arms and legs can be reduced, adding limberness and speed to robot's motion.
Toyota says it plans to showcase the partner robots in the Toyota Group Pavilion at Expo 2005 in Japan in March, 2005.
(Click here for further information)
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