Just spotted this on Gizmodo, take that Segway!




i-unit


i-foot (you have 10 seconds to comply!)

These are all due to be shown at an expo next year.

Quote:

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Mountable, Walking ?i-foot? Robot
This 2-legged, mountable robot was developed for three-dimensional mobility, with the ability to navigate staircases. The passenger climbs on and drives with a joystick. Toyota will present this proposal for a new type of mobility at EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN.

Design Concept
The egg-shaped design of the ?i-foot? that wraps around the passenger is meant to express the dream of future three-dimensional mobility and the feelings of safety and reliability upon which that dream is built.

Main Features

    * The ability to mount and dismount comfortably was of primary consideration in the design of the bird-like legs, which bend toward the rear.
    * Steering and speed of the ?i-foot? is controlled with a joystick, a fun form of driving different from that of conventional forms of mobility.

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I wonder what they're smoking over at Toyota


There's a whole load of PR blurb and some instrument 'playing' robots and pics on the press release here.