Toyota

There's been quite a frenzy lately about Toyota's venture into robotics. Well, the fanfare continued today when Toyota officially showed off it's receptionist robot, TPR-Robina. Waziwazi would love to make trips to Japan to bring you live coverage of such robot launches. But seeing as our current budget can only afford us a trip to the local Los Angeles supaa to buy some edamame and Pocky, we hope you don't mind if we just translate Impress Watch's coverage of the event:

• ROBina stands for "ROBot as INtelligent Assistant"
• Height: 1.2m (3.93'), Weight: 60kg (132lb)
• Max speed: 3.6km/hr (2.24mph)
• Robina has laser, ultrasonic, power (arm) sensors, a microphone for speech recognition, image recognition and wireless LAN
• 27 degrees of freedom
• Videos: Robina making an entrance and signing an autograph

We may not have seen the last of Sony's Aibo and Qrio after all! Norri Kageki has just tipped us on a huge announcement from Japan obtained from a podcast by Nikkei Business: Toyota will buy Sony's robotics division. Nothing has been said on the terms of the sale. Just yesterday, Toyota announced a new robot. The company has been developing a number of partner robots for assistance in home chores, medical care and industrial. This purchase seems to cast robotics as an important piece of Toyota's future.

Thanks, Norri Kageki

[Update 08/24: Sony is denying the reports of the transfer of its robotics R&D arm to Toyota. Marketwatch reports that the venture involves Toyota purchasing some intellectual property from Sony to extend towards Toyota's robotics work. In addition, Toyota will work with a team of Sony engineers in "the development of next-generation cars and robots"]

Toyota announced today a tour guide robot (with a cool hair-do) that will show visitors around its exhibition hall in Toyota City. There's not much detail about the robot named Robina, but the press release says the wheeled robot can communicate with visitors verbally and using gestures. It can also recognize the visitors' nametags and engage in coversation with them as well as sign autographs with its jointed fingers (which, ahem, we said was coming). Finally it's capable of autonomous navigation. Toyota hopes to monitor the robot and apply what it learns to developing future robots.

While robots like these are a show of a company's technological prowess, Toyota is developing the robots to assist with domestic chores, nursing and medical care, manufacturing and personal transport.

Toyota, which recently surpassed GM to become the world's largest carmaker, announced that it will unveil a new partner robot later this year with hands so advanced it plays the violin. The robot will perform alongside its siblings in an orchestra in celebration of Toyota's 70th anniversary this Fall. In other news, Toyota's Robot DJ will be reassigned to the receptionist position at it's Nagoya office.. yes, it is a slow day here at waziwazi.com