Categories: Cars

Toyota’s AI-Powered Robot Turned Out To Be a Mad Baller

In the future, our robot overlords won’t just make delicious espresso and fold laundry, they may also dominate the basketball court. Toyota recently showed one of its robot prototypes, which sank an 80.5-foot shot, making it the longest basketball shot made by a humanoid robot.

While that is a very specific Guinness World Record (most are), it shows significant progress in Toyota’s artificial intelligence program. Tomohiro Nomi, Toyota’s CUE project leader, said, “Using artificial intelligence based on robot structure, it learned and thought of the throwing style that would be the most effective.” He continued, “I want to create something fun, and with the power of craftsmanship, I want to show that Japan’s still got a lot under its sleeve. The next step is for the robot to be able to run. And ultimately I want to see a robot dunking like Michael Jordan.”

Interesting comments, to be sure, but it’s unlikely that we’ll see a robot basketball league anytime soon. The CUE robot’s progress could translate to gains in autonomous manufacturing techniques, however, as humanoid robots may have a prominent place on the factory floor of the future. A machine that can assess a physical situation and make real-time adjustments to its behavior and mechanics would be a huge benefit, and could replace humans in dangerous situations, such as near hazardous chemicals and other materials.

[Images: Toyota]

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Source: The Truth About Cars

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