Robots that take out your garbage? Oh What A Feeling, says Toyota as it opens its very own smart city
(2021/02/24)
- Reference: 1614155292
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/24/toyota_smart_woven_city_japan/
- Source link:
Toyota on Tuesday broke ground on " [1]Woven City ", a smart city project in Japan that doesn't permit private cars and where your robot might stock your fridge.
The master-planned community, named as a reminder of Toyota's origins as a maker of looms, sits on 700,000 square meters of retired manufacturing plant at the base of Mount Fuji. The repurposed plant is marketed as a " [2]living laboratory " for mobility-related technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, smart homes, and sustainability. The city's design includes energy-efficient wooden buildings partly made by robots, plus power from solar energy, geothermal energy, and hydrogen fuel cells in a nod to Japan's carbon-neutrality ambitions.
[3]
Woven City features three sets of "interwoven" streets to form a repeatable grid of nine blocks, each framing a local park or courtyard. The design attempts to remove the typical transport hierarchy experienced in city traffic by allotting individual streets to automated driving, pedestrians and personal mobility devices.
Watch Toyota's huge basketball robot shoot a hoop [4]READ MORE
[5]
Toyota e-Palettes, battery-electric vehicles that were set to feature at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, serve as the autonomous vehicles. These vehicles offer ride-sharing and carpooling, plus delivery services, mobile retail shops, and even mobile hotels or workspaces. Toyota is betting on autonomous mobility as a service, what they refer to as [6]Autono-MaaS .
Woven City is studded with sensors and governed with software to operate the e-Palettes and perform domestic tasks within the smart homes. While automated cars are exciting to some, others will be thrilled to find a robot restocking the fridge, taking out the trash, and even reminding residents to visit their doctor.
The community is designed to initially accommodate 360 residents. At full capacity it aims to house 2,000 individuals, among them Toyota employees, inventors, senior citizens, and families.
[7]
Toyota's e-palette autonomous vehicle.
Click to enlarge
Woven City also aims to addresses Japan's ageing population by incorporating assisted living facilities for the elderly.
A Toyota [8]announcement explains that the City is intended to serve as both a laboratory and help the company "shift from an automobile manufacturer to a mobility company."
[9]
Woven City is a [10]partnership with Japanese mega-telco NTT. Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group came up with the city's master plan. A project completion date was not announced. ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.woven-city.global/
[2] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/34827717.html
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YDYxzMxDfmn5SW0RiYp9kAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/14/ai_roundup_140419/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YDYxzMxDfmn5SW0RiYp9kAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/34527341.html
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/02/24/toyota_e_palette_pr_suplpied.jpg
[8] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/34827717.html
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YDYxzMxDfmn5SW0RiYp9kAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/32057071.html
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The master-planned community, named as a reminder of Toyota's origins as a maker of looms, sits on 700,000 square meters of retired manufacturing plant at the base of Mount Fuji. The repurposed plant is marketed as a " [2]living laboratory " for mobility-related technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, smart homes, and sustainability. The city's design includes energy-efficient wooden buildings partly made by robots, plus power from solar energy, geothermal energy, and hydrogen fuel cells in a nod to Japan's carbon-neutrality ambitions.
[3]
Woven City features three sets of "interwoven" streets to form a repeatable grid of nine blocks, each framing a local park or courtyard. The design attempts to remove the typical transport hierarchy experienced in city traffic by allotting individual streets to automated driving, pedestrians and personal mobility devices.
Watch Toyota's huge basketball robot shoot a hoop [4]READ MORE
[5]
Toyota e-Palettes, battery-electric vehicles that were set to feature at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, serve as the autonomous vehicles. These vehicles offer ride-sharing and carpooling, plus delivery services, mobile retail shops, and even mobile hotels or workspaces. Toyota is betting on autonomous mobility as a service, what they refer to as [6]Autono-MaaS .
Woven City is studded with sensors and governed with software to operate the e-Palettes and perform domestic tasks within the smart homes. While automated cars are exciting to some, others will be thrilled to find a robot restocking the fridge, taking out the trash, and even reminding residents to visit their doctor.
The community is designed to initially accommodate 360 residents. At full capacity it aims to house 2,000 individuals, among them Toyota employees, inventors, senior citizens, and families.
[7]
Toyota's e-palette autonomous vehicle.
Click to enlarge
Woven City also aims to addresses Japan's ageing population by incorporating assisted living facilities for the elderly.
A Toyota [8]announcement explains that the City is intended to serve as both a laboratory and help the company "shift from an automobile manufacturer to a mobility company."
[9]
Woven City is a [10]partnership with Japanese mega-telco NTT. Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group came up with the city's master plan. A project completion date was not announced. ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.woven-city.global/
[2] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/34827717.html
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YDYxzMxDfmn5SW0RiYp9kAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/14/ai_roundup_140419/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YDYxzMxDfmn5SW0RiYp9kAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/34527341.html
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/02/24/toyota_e_palette_pr_suplpied.jpg
[8] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/34827717.html
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YDYxzMxDfmn5SW0RiYp9kAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/32057071.html
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: I bet the way citizens will greet each other will be ...
Chris G
An alternative greeting would be " Be seeing you!"
As a highly competent curmudgeon, I can assure any robot that tries to remind me something, it will likely require some remedial action shortly after.
assisted living facilities
don't you hate it when you lose your account
Do you have to be elderly or is it ok if your just too lazy to get another beer?
Tomorrowland
cawfee
Today!
In 'Woven City' ...
Mike 137
" In 'Woven City' human-driven cars aren't allowed, 'personal mobility devices' get their own roads and sensors tell robots when you need help "
I see two problems - both rather obvious:
[1] This only works if everyone acts in lock step, with identical wants, needs and purposes. This of course has been a Japanese cultural tendency for a very long time, hence the proverb " the nail that stands proud will be knocked home . It certainly wouldn't work in a more individualistic society.
[2] E. M. Forster foresaw in 1909 ("The Machine Stops") what happens when such intensively automated systems start breaking down. He also pointed out the corrosive effect of excess automation on culture.
I bet the way citizens will greet each other will be ...
"Hello citizen, be well!"