Every once in a while, Toyota surprises us with their technological advances that are safely propelling the world into the robotics future. Just to name a few, last year they introduced T-HR3 humanoid robot and announced Concept-i vehicles as part of their mission to contribute to a prosperous society of mobility under the motto “Mobility for All”. Their newest development? Expanding their robotics research in Europe.
How did it happen?
Back in October 2018, Toyota hosted a demonstration of its Human Support Robot (HSR) to the researchers’ and academic community in Europe at IROS (International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) held in Madrid from October 1st-5th. In a series of talks, Toyota Engineers also presented the HSR research platform.
A part of the Toyota Partner Robots family, the HSR is one of Toyota’s mobility concepts whose creation aims to provide freedom of mobility for everyone. It is a compact mobile manipulator with a folding arm that can pick objects up off the floor and take them off shelves. The HSR can also perform lots of other tasks, all in a mission to improve the quality of life of elderly and disabled people.
A whole portfolio of health-focused robots
Other proud members of the Toyota Partner Robots include the previously mentioned T-HR3, an innovation robot that can play the trumpet and violin, Pocobee, a social robot that monitors the health of the elderly, and Welwalk, a robot assisting in the rehabilitation of people suffering from leg paralysis due to a stroke or other causes.
Gerald Killmann, the Vice President of R&D at Toyota Motor Europe (TME), said his company’s significant contribution to Toyota’s global research or specific robotics areas like perception was possible due to Europe’s advanced capabilities in computer vision. He expressed the company’s excitement over expanding their collaborations with additional European research organizations.
Toyota launched the HSR Developer’s Community back in September 2015, which has allowed it to offer its HSR innovation platform to partners throughout the world. In Europe, these partners include five research universities located in Germany, France, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Toyota video for press usage:
Source: Toyota press release
