Hi, guys! Philip English from RoboPhil.com and today we have an interview with the guys from Toyota, who are telling us about their Partner Robots.

Philip English – Right, hi guys. Here, we’re at the Toyota stand today to see their robots. So we’re gonna interview this gentleman to see what it’s all about. So, what’s your name, sir?

Yusuke Kosaka – My name is Yusuke Kosaka.

Philip English – Okay. And are you one of the engineers?

Yusuke Kosaka – Yes, I am.

Philip English – Okay, perfect. And have you worked on all three of the robots?

Yusuke Kosaka – I’m in charge of the total support of the management.

Philip English – Right, support management. Okay, okay. So has Toyota, you brought three robots today. So could you explain each robot to me?

Yusuke Kosaka – One is humanoid robot, T-HR3.

Philip English – Okay.

Yusuke Kosaka – It has about thirty joints and every joint has 12 sensors

Philip English – Okay

Yusuke Kosaka – and we can control the talk or thoughts so the robot can react the exaggerated force.

Philip English – Okay, okay. And then what problem does the robot solve? So is it for industry, or for business?

Yusuke Kosaka – Mainly our target is for home life support.

Philip English – Right, okay. So the solution is that it will help people out within the home to sort of live better.

Yusuke Kosaka – Yeah, everyday life.

Philip English – Everyday life. Okay, so that’s the first robot. For the second robot?

Yusuke Kosaka – The second one, is the Master Maneuvering System. It’s not a robot but similar to the robot but they operate where that maneuvering system and control the humanoid robot.

Philip English – Right, okay. And what problems does it solve?

Yusuke Kosaka – The operator can feel the force given back from the humanoid robot.

Philip English – Right, I see. So is it like an exoskeleton, is that what it is?

Yusuke Kosaka – Yeah, exoskeleton. So it operator motion is transmitted to the robot and robot force is transmitted to the operator.

Philip English – Right, so for this robot you would see it working for healthcare, for help people out in the home as well, is that right?

Yusuke Kosaka – It’s just a little bit difficult because dealing with a human is very difficult because they are soft and we have to be gentle.

Philip English – Okay, okay, that’s fine. And then for the third robot, give us a bit of an overview for that.

Yusuke Kosaka – That’s the Tokyo 2020 mascot robot.

Philip English – Oh, right.

Yusuke Kosaka – Yeah, they have from the character of the Tokyo Paralympic Moto Games.

Philip English – Right, okay and what does that robot do then?

Yusuke Kosaka – They welcoming the athletes or people from outside Japan.

Philip English – Right, so that’s the Olympic Games that are coming out?

Yusuke Kosaka – We hope so.

Philip English – Okay, and can it speak to the people then?

Yusuke Kosaka – No, because those characters cannot speak.

Philip English – Right, okay. We’ll have to do some research about those characters. So for these robots then, you’re saying that there’s two of them that you’ve made but there’s gonna be more in the future?

Yusuke Kosaka – Yeah we have just two now and we’re going to increase those robots, maybe our maximum is about 10 or so.

Philip English – Okay, and this is going to be for the Olympic Games so when people come for the Olympics, they can see the robot as a mascot?

Yusuke Kosaka – We hope so, but just now the committee is scheduling how to use or what do they do.

Philip English – Right, okay. So what is the goal of the company then?

Yusuke Kosaka – Our goal is to provide mobility freedom for the people. We call it “Mobility For All.”

Philip English – Right.

Yusuke Kosaka – The solution is, one is just physically moving and then the virtual moving like our avatar robot.

Philip English – Okay.

Yusuke Kosaka – The third is about emotional moving.

Philip English – All right, I see. So you’re trying to cover the three main sort of premises.

Yusuke Kosaka – Yes.

Philip English – Right, I see, okay. Well thank you very much, thank you.

Yusuke Kosaka – Thank you very much

Toyota Robots: https://www.toyota-global.com/innovation/partner_robot

Toyota Robots YouTube: https://youtu.be/d6W2NQ4Poak

Philip English: https://philipenglish.com

Sponsor – Robot Center: https://www.robotcenter.co.uk