The Tokyo Olympics continue to offer technological highlights. During the opening ceremony, for example, more than 1,800 drones lit up the sky. And now a basketball player robot captivated everyone. with his skills.
Here is the CUE, a robot created by Toyota whose mastery of basketball is acquired through an artificial intelligence system. This allows him to execute perfect shots and make baskets from anywhere on the pitch.
This is precisely what he demonstrated last weekend in France’s victory over the United States at the Tokyo Olympics. In addition to the historic defeat, Toyota’s basketball robot was the star of the show.
The imposing android, with a height of 2.04 meters tall and an intimidating appearance.took the ball and took one shot from the free throw line and another from the midfield. Surprisingly, he was 100% perfect on both attempts.
There is no doubt that the few people in the stadium – this edition of the Tokyo Olympics is without an audience due to COVID – were in awe of the prowess of Toyota’s basketball robot. However, it was not his first game.
Toyota’s third-generation basketball robot
Credit: International Basketball Federation
For two years, Toyota has been working on its basketball androids. Some time ago an earlier version of the basketball robot had 2,020 consecutive free throws.. Unsurprisingly, he broke the world record in his category.
The team from the Japanese company started working on the basketball robot in 2017. The first version required the intervention of a person to set it up, but they can now move anywhere on the court thanks to to its integrated wheels.
To perform perfect shots, the basketball robot has the following characteristics. sensors to measure distance, a camera and an artificial intelligence system.. This way, he is able to perform the necessary calculations and adjust his arms to send the ball into the air.
The creators of this project were inspired by Sakuragi Hanamichi, the protagonist of the manga Slam Dunk, who had no previous sports experience, but who, after practicing thousands of shots, manages to perfect his technique and becomes a star.
