Toyota trekker starts public testing

It won’t beam you up, but Toyota Motor Corporation’s personal transport unit will get you from point A to B. And now the Winglet is headed to the “streets” – actually public sidewalks – in a real-world test of functionality, convenience and safety. Overall, the trials should help determine how the Winglet supports public mobility, improves the environment and invigorates local communities…in other words how it helps us live long and prosper. The City of Tsukuba (Tsukuba) in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) are to begin public sidewalk demonstration trials tomorrow of the "Winglet", a TMC-developed personal transport assistance robot ridden in a standing position. The trials, to be conducted in the Tsukuba Mobility Robot Experimental Zone, are the first for the Winglet on a public thoroughfare. The Winglet, created with the aim of contributing to the development of a society where mobility is safe, freely accessible, and fun, is a next-generation mobility robot that offers users outstanding operability and performance that expands the user's world, with a compact size and ease of use suited to modern living environments. The trials, scheduled to run until the end of March 2016* , are aimed to verify the safety, functionality and convenience of the Winglet so it can be used on public sidewalks in the future. This year, emphasis will be placed on verifying safety, and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) personnel and Tsukuba municipal employees will assess operational safety and compatibility with pedestrians and other traffic by using the Winglet on sidewalks to commute to and from work and when going out during working hours. From 2014 onward, assessment will focus on aspects of functionality and convenience, including prospective demand and contribution to supporting public mobility, invigorating local communities and improving the environment. Tsukuba is designated as the Tsukuba Mobility Robot Experimental Zone, and Japan's first personal mobility robot testing on public sidewalks has been conducted there since June 2011, with more than 7,000 km of travel logged to date. With the start of the Winglet trials, TMC hopes to contribute to the development of Japan's personal assistance robot industry and the realization of mobility-robot use on public thoroughfares. In light of its designation as an International Strategic Zone and as an environmental model city, Tsukuba is promoting innovation for the creation of a low-carbon society. TMC and Tsukuba believe that the Winglet trials will be highly significant in the development of mobility-robot-using communities with low environmental impact. Source: pressroom.toyota