Toyota unveiled a new generation of wheeled robot basketball player in action

Toyota develops basketball-playing robots

*Brief facts*

CUE3 is 219 cm tall (human-like body) Legs Two-wheel system, speeds up movement across the court Weight 74 kg – a ~40 % reduction thanks to a simplified structure and fewer joints Equipment Lidar + various sensors in the body, stereoscopic camera on the head, batteries from Toyota racing cars Training AI reinforcement learning method (unlike previous generations that used predictive models)

Development history
- CUE3 (2019) – set a world record: 2020 consecutive shots into the basket.
- CUE6 (2024) – became the first basketball robot to successfully shoot from 24.55 m.
- CUE7 – latest model, first shown at an open event in Tokyo. During a break, the robot made a shot and “dressed up” for the audience.

What’s new in CUE7
1. Design – completely redesigned: from four-wheel drive to two-wheel, increasing mobility speed.
2. Lightness – reduced number of joint articulations, cutting weight by 40 %.
3. Technologies – integration of lidar and stereoscopic camera provides more accurate orientation and ball capture.
4. Power – Toyota racing car batteries provide sufficient autonomy.

Company goal
Toyota uses experience with basketball robots to further improve its autonomous driving systems and general robotics. Each new prototype serves as a testbed for new AI algorithms, sensors, and mechanical solutions that can be transferred to future cars.