Would you let this creepy robot chauffeur drive you around?
Developing driverless cars is very complicated – just ask Elon Musk or Google.
Not only do they need to be able to ‘see’ all around them, they also need to be able to physically control the car when there isn’t a human at the controls.
To make the process a bit simpler, scientists at the University of Tokyo decided to approach the problem differently – what if instead of a robot car, a regular car just had a robot driver?
Enter Musashi, the robot chauffeur of the future.
The team, led by Dr Kento Kawaharazuka, created Musashi to mimic the human body in a way that enabled it to control a car, such as turning the steering wheel and pressing the pedals. Known as a musculoskeletal humanoid, it has a joint and muscle structure inspired by humans, and pressure sensors in its hands and feet.
It has 74 ‘muscles’ and 39 joints, excluding the hands, which have five fingers.
Meanwhile, cameras in the robot’s eyes connected to artificial intelligence systems can recognise people in the wing mirrors and ensure it reacts to driving events such as changing traffic lights or a pedestrian stepping out into the road.
It can also use the handbrake, turn the ignition key – something fast becoming obsolete – and use the indicators. Which is more than some human drivers.
However, Musashi is taking a little longer than most to learn how to drive, and so far can only drive in a straight line and turn right, going no faster than 3mph.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk’s sister publication New Scientist, Dr Kawaharazuka said: ‘The speed of the pedal or the velocity of the car is not high. Also the handling of the car is not fast compared to human beings.’
Just as fully autonomous vehicles are not yet a reality, Musashi isn’t going to be chauffeuring celebs to the red carpet any time soon.
‘I’m not looking 10 or 20 years in the future, but I’m looking 50 or 100 years away,’ said Dr Kawaharazuka.
But while it may be a way off, a humanoid driver could be more versatile than single autonomous cars – hopping between vehicles and allowing owners of non-autonomous cars to take the backseat, literally.
Whether passengers will be happy to let a robot do the driving, however, remains to be seen.