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Toyota Humanoid Robot Runs At 7 Km/hr

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July 29th, 2009 by keith kleiner
  Filed under bionic body, brain, genetics, robotics.

toyota-humanoid-robotProps to the guys over at smart-machines for digging up an awesome video (see below) of the Toyota humanoid robot running at 7 Km/hr (4 mph), besting Asimo’s 6Km/hr.  Making humanoid robots that can run and walk was once a formidable challenge for robot engineers, but advances in computing now make the problem of calculating split second compensations for balance less of a headache.  Surprisingly, there still aren’t many bipedal humanoid robots that can walk, let alone run.  The Asimo robot from Honda and also the upcoming Dexter robot from Anybots are two of the more famous examples, but now Toyota has jumped into the ring in a big way.  The Toyota humanoid robot is part of a now multi-year effort by Toyota to create robots that are designed to help humans, aptly called partner robots.

The Asimo robot from Honda has been around for over a decade, so at first the humanoid robot from Toyota might not seem like much of an achievement.  Perhaps this is true…but after watching the video you will have to agree its still pretty darn cool.  Apparently the Toyota robot can only operate on conventional flat surfaces, whereas the Asimo robot is capable of walking up stairs and handling more diverse situations (except when it falls).  But then again the Toyota robot can play the violin, so who is the real champ here?  In the end, the best thing is that there are multiple big money players all jumping into the humanoid robot market, and thus the field is rapidly advancing through natural competitive pressure.  It surely won’t be long now before Honda or some other company bests this 7 Km/hr achievement.  And then of course if we allow the robot to have more than two feet, my money is on the big dog kicking everybody’s butt, humanoid or human.

Surprisingly there is very little information I can find about the Toyota running robot other than the info in this post.  If anybody can dig up more videos or information please post it in the comments.

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  • John Wilson
    How long until we see the humanoid robot olympics with the one hundred metre sprint?

    Then how long until the humanoid robots can beat humans?

    7 km/hr = 100 metres in 195 seconds.

    The current world record is 9.69 seconds by Usain Bolt of Jamaica.
  • Gargamel
    This thing will make war very scary.
  • Great, another robot video where people seem to be obsessed with pushing them around. Do these people realize that when the robot revolution comes, they're gonna be the first to die?
  • me
    distance=velocity*time
    time=distance/velocity
    time= 0.1km / 7km/h = 0.014285 hours
    = 0.86714 minutes
    = 51.4 seconds
  • Ben
    If you pause it right during the slow-mo bit you can see that it has both feet off the ground during that stride. Pretty impressive.
  • God
    It's called running for a reason.
  • John Wilson
    me, you're right, I accidentally hit the multiplication button on my calculator instead of the division button...damn this cursed technology, I'm going back to using an abacus!

    At 7km/hr, the robot would run 100 metres in 51.4 seconds.

    A robot would need to be able to run about 38km/hr to beat the human world record.
  • hn
    Well, for starters the robot does not have to outrun the humans to kill them all. See Zombies (which DONT RUN in case you watch the wrong movies)

    Also, I fail to be impressed, this is the most minimal running style, both legs are merely 1" or so from the ground at the same time.
    I want to see it do the hurdles.
  • hn,I agree, not impressed at all - its a YARTCSIL - Yet Another Robot That Can't Straighten Its Legs.
  • wang
    @"I want to see it do the hurdles."

    that's nonsense, how many humans can hurdle? not many, especially with serious form.

    i think it's a good step considering most people nowadays only go about that speed too haha
  • bull
    Still runs faster than McCain.
  • playdo
    all i could think about was how long until the robots chasing after ME
  • Keith
    I'll be impressed when they're sporting 40 watt range, phased plasma rifles.
  • withheld
    This is creepy, pleas make it stop!
  • bob
    a robot made in asia. helpful to humans.

    a robot made in america. primary goal is killing or law enforcement capabilities.
  • Technically it is racewalking not running since at no time do both feet leave the ground.
  • It's simply amazing how our body is wired to learn, adapt and evolve. Maybe after investing another 30 years and billions, we can finally build a robot with fingers and toes so they can run and type like us.
  • RoboBobo
    Technically it is running, since both feet were above the ground simultaneously at one tiny moment, as it can be seen at 00:53 for example...
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