Since the 1980s, Toyota has been developing industrial robots for its own manufacturing processes and for supporting medical and nursing fields. The company has recently revealed T-HR3, its third generation humanoid robot that stands 1.54 m tall and weighs 75 kg.
Instead of adding artificial intelligence into the T-HR3 like the majority of recently developed robots, T-HR3 is controlled by a specially-created Master Manoeuvring System, allowing the entire body of the robot to be controlled by the operator through his own actions. The system includes wearable controls that map the operator’s hand, arm and foot movements and smoothly synchronise these movements on the robot via 29 body parts. Additionally, a head-mounted display allows the operator to see from T-HR3’s perspective.
Toyota envisions that T-HR3 will make for safe assistance for various environments and uses, including at home, medical facilities, construction sites, disaster-stricken areas and even outer space. T-HR3 can be viewed at the International Robot Exhibition 2017 in Tokyo from November 29 to December 2.