At the Tokyo Olympics, a robot animates halftime basketball games with baskets entered from anywhere on the court. Created by Toyota engineers, it entered the Guinness Book.
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It is customary for events to take place at half-time during basketball matches, and at the Olympic Games, Sunday’s meeting between the United States and France was marked by the appearance of a robot ! Even though the meetings are played behind closed doors, cameras were there to film the exploits of this android called CUE.
First, the automaton came to stand on the free throw line 4.50 meters from the circle, and he chained the baskets. Then, he moved behind the 3-point line (6.75m), and once again, he was “filoche” as we say in basketball jargon. Finally, he retreated to the midfield line. We are therefore 14 meters from the target, and here again, the robot hits the mark without touching the circle. All with a basketball player mechanics.
CUE 5 can score from any distance, even from midfield. © PopNSport
In the Book of Records with 2,020 successful shots in a row!
This is the fifth version of CUE, designed in 2018 by 17 Toyota employees in their spare time, using … tutorials on Internet. It measures 2.10 meters for 90 kilos, and its number, 95, means CUE5 in Japanese. Compared to its little brothers, it is bigger and heavier, and above all can shoot from any place on the ground, adapting its strength. He can also receive the ball on his left hand, and he takes advantage of his Artificial intelligence to gain in autonomy.
He is so skillful that he did its entry into the prestigious Book of Records, the Guinness Book, scoring 2,020 free throws in a row, which no human is not able to do. In Japan, he makes regular appearances at official meetings, and has even been seen participating in a shooting competition with professional players. And he obviously won!
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