Toyota introduces a robot to help, clean and take selfies for fun at home

June 21 is usually celebrated as Selfie Day and Toyota Research Institute (TRI) celebrates this holiday with its friendly robot – a robot that wants to take selfies while it works around the house with the nickname Robo-Selfie.

The company says the machine is the latest step in Toyota’s robotics research as engineers have worked to teach the robot new skills. To show off his skills, the robot filmed itself, in a selfie-style, while taking on chores around the house.

One of the problems with robots is that objects are reflective or transparent. According to Toyota, robots cannot distinguish well between them. However, Toyota’s latest maid robot can do just that, with what it calls a method of training with 3D geometry and synthetic data. This complex process allows the robot to understand objects in space, move them out of the way, and determine the difference between reflective and transparent objects, such as mirrors and glass tables.

The glass cup is also a barrier that TRI has overcome. In the video above, you can see the robot move the cups to continue cleaning the surface. All of this has led to the breakthrough that TRI calls “programmable data”. Robots can take aggregated data to recreate a situation and learn, instead of collecting physical data for a fairly long time and then performing a task.

This machine is currently mainly focused on cleaning and helping around the house, and that is the company’s goal. TRI says it’s not building robots to replace human activities, but to help people perform tasks more easily. This is especially true for older people, who may need something to help carry groceries or clean up. Moreover, the robot will take a selfie while performing its task, increasing the fun at home.

Reference: CNET