Could a humanoid robot sitting in the driver’s seat be the key to self-driving cars that don’t hit pedestrians or crash into utility poles? A group of researchers from the University of Tokyo think so, and they make the following case: Newly Published Technical Papers this week.
The researchers, one of whom serves as a consultant for Toyota, Developed and trained a “musculoskeletal humanoid” We asked Musashi to run a small electric car on our test course.
Equipped with two cameras to replace human eyes, Musashi can “see” the road ahead and the scenery reflected in the car’s side mirrors. Its mechanical hands can turn the car’s key, pull the handbrake and turn on the turn signals. And thanks to its skid-resistant “feet,” Musashi can step on the gas and brake pedals.
By feeding it raw sensor data, the researchers claim they were able to “teach” Musashi how to steer a car and navigate corners at intersections while obeying traffic lights.
However, there are some points to be aware of.
First, instead of stepping on the accelerator when going around a corner, Musashi simply took his “foot” off the brake pedal — a move the researchers say was a result of technological limitations and being overly cautious — but it took the car roughly two minutes to complete the turn.
Musashi did In another experiment, the accelerator was used, but maintaining a steady speed was difficult depending on the slope of the road, the researchers said.
Clearly, there’s still work to be done. Luckily, researchers say they’re up for the challenge and have plans to develop the next generation of robots and software. Perhaps in a few decades’ time, Musashi will be behind the wheel of Tokyo’s next taxi.