A robotic chair revealed on the Japan Mobility Present 2025 can navigate difficult environments on its 4 articulated legs.
Whereas the chair remains to be a prototype, it goals to permit customers with restricted mobility to climb stairs or cross different obstacles that may be impassable by conventional wheelchairs. It is also able to lifting the consumer to allow them to entry vehicles and different elevated automobiles or platforms.
The legs are wholly impartial, with every bending, lifting or folding to assist manoeuvrability. When not in use, the legs may fold away neatly beneath the robotic, permitting it to be packed right into a automobile or baggage for simple transport. The system may unfold and stabilize itself with out consumer help.
Described as an “autonomous wheelchair,” the bot is full of plenty of options that permit it to navigate tough terrain by mimicking the motion of four-legged animals like crabs. These embrace LiDAR methods that use laser mild to measure distances and create extremely correct, detailed three-dimensional representations of objects and environments, which the robotic makes use of to dodge obstacles or take care of uneven surfaces.
When climbing stairs, the unit first checks the peak with its entrance legs earlier than pushing upward with its rear limbs. There are additionally built-in collision radars to keep away from contact with individuals or objects.
Moreover, the Stroll Me has built-in weight sensors to make sure that the consumer stays in a secure, seated place. Toyota’s engineers studied the way in which individuals naturally navigate stairs and the way they distribute their weight when transferring round or over obstacles. If the robotic senses an imbalance, it might modify each its legs in addition to the lean of the seat itself to make sure the consumer is snug and safe.
There are additionally plenty of guide management choices. Handles are hooked up to the seat that permit the consumer to information the robotic’s route. Alternatively, a digital interface gives particular buttons to regulate locomotion exactly. The Stroll Me will even reply to voice instructions that embrace preset locations like “lounge” and pace controls like “slower” or “sooner.”
The unit is powered by a battery hid behind the seat, which may energy it for a whole day of operation. The battery is charged by plugging it into a normal wall outlet in a single day.
The Stroll Me was a part of a broader product lineup proven by Toyota on the Tokyo Mobility Present, which additionally included an autonomous, self-driving automobile for teenagers and a “Land Cruiser of wheelchairs” with extra-rugged, all-terrain tires and a sturdy body. Based on High Gear, the wheelchair was impressed by Toyota’s chairman Akio Toyoda who, at 69, needs to have the ability to “drift, do donuts and race off-road into his retirement.”
