Toyota Humanoid Robot Gives Asimo a Run For Its Money

via Gizmodo by Jack Loftus on 8/2/09

Shown here is Toyota's running robot. At 7 km/h it's not going to win any wind sprints in the Olympics, but nevertheless this thing is airborne for 100ms between strides as it skirts across the floor (i.e. genuine running).

For comparison's sake, Honda's ASIMO robot can only manage a meager 6 km/h. We assume Toyota was able to squeeze the extra kilometer per hour out of their robot with a strict training regimen and what can only be described as a mild dose of physical abuse—their robot can re-balance itself when pushed lightly, as you can see in the video.

Toyota Scientists Succeed in Thought-Controlled Wheelchair

via Gizmodo by Adam Frucci on 6/29/09

Sure, brain wave-controlled robots, music, cell-phones, and games give us tech lust, but Toyota's announcement that it's developed a way to control a wheel chair—without the need for movement or voice—fills me with equal amounts of awesome.

Seeing technology applied in a field that has the potential to help so many makes for a nice change sometimes, ya know? The breakthrough comes from scientists at the BSI-Toyota Collaboration Center, which teams various groups including Toyota Motorand the mostly-Japanese-government-funded RIKEN
research unit).

At this stage, the system centers on an electroencephalograph (EEG) scanner cap that the wheelchair user wears so their brain waves can be scanned and analyzed by a computer. The result is the ability to make movements almost in real time. Stopping is reportedly a little harder, with the user having to puff up a cheek to trigger a detector worn on the face. Still, that's pretty freakn'cool.