The Philippine Star

Toyota turns to AI startup to accelerate goal of robots for the home

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp. has designs on making robot helpers for your home, and has enlisted a Japanese startup that specialize­s in artificial intelligen­ce to jumpstart its plan.

Japan’s biggest automaker and Tokyo-based Preferred Networks Inc. will carry out joint research to develop socalled service robots that are “capable of learning in typical living environmen­ts,” the companies said in statements on Wednesday.

The two firms have already been collaborat­ing on driverless vehicles since 2014.

Eighty-year-old manufactur­ing giant Toyota is trying to transform itself and adapt to technology, such as ridehailin­g and automated driving, that is disrupting the auto industry.

Toyota sees robots as part of that effort, particular­ly in Japan, where it aims to have them in homes and hospitals to support one of the world’s fastest ageing population­s.

For the project announced on Wednesday, Toyota said it would provide a dozen units of its Human Support Robot, or HSR, to Preferred Networks.

The companies will cooperate on developmen­t over the next three years, including the sharing of intellectu­al property.

Preferred Networks is already using the robot as a platform for its advanced artificial intelligen­ce software. At an exhibition in Tokyo last year the robot tidied a messy room, distinguis­hing between trash and dirty towels.

Toyota has been working on service robots since 2004, and has a number of models under developmen­t. But HSR is the one it sees as closest to being ready for commercial applicatio­ns.

Basically a single arm on a wheeled base with a sensorfill­ed head on top, the robot will also be used at next year’s summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, to help with simple tasks such as fetching drinks for some spectators.

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