[See related engineering design challenge, Robot Basketball, for students in grades 5 to 12 from eGFI Teachers.]

Try eGFI’s The world’s basketball superstars pressed for full-court glory at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, but the big shot was a homegrown rookie hoopster named CUE5.

Created by nine volunteer engineers and technicians from the Frontier Research Department of Toyota Central R&D Labs for fun, Toyota’s basketball-shooting, artificial intelligence-powered robot debuted at halftime in the USA-France opener by nailing a free throw, a three-pointer, and a half-court shot in quick succession – racking up millions of views online.

As Washington Post sports writer Ben Golliver described in an August 2 dispatch: “CUE5 is a sight to behold: Its 7-foot, 220-pound physique is comparable to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis. The robot bears a slight resemblance to C3P0 from Star Wars, although its all-black exterior and faceless design project an intimidating air.” The robot’s seven sensors include one in its chest to measure the distance to the hoop, two in its feet for moving, and four in its hands – oversize, like Shaquille O’Neal’s – for picking up the ball and dribbling. About 25 parts in the arms and legs are activated on each shot.

For its Olympics debut, CUE5 – which has big hands like Shaquille O’Neal’s – wore a black jersey adorned with a Japanese flag, “Tokyo 2020,” and the number 95; black shorts; and oversized gray shoes with red shoelaces.

The Toyota engineering team responsible for everything from aesthetic details to AI computing power was led by Tomohiro Nomi, 43, who has focused on basketball robots for the past four years of his two decades with the automotive giant. Over that time, CUE has advanced from a plain-based ‘bot that could shoot only free throws to a two-legged automaton with a three-point shot. Their successor, CUE3. won a Guinness Book of World Records in May 2019 by making 2,020 consecutive free throws in 6 hours and 35 minutes, while CUE4 participated in a three-point contest at Japan’s B League All-Star Game.

CUE3 passes 200 shots in rehearsal for setting a 2019 Guinness world record

[Read the robot’s developmental diary.]

In partnership with a Japanese pro-basketball team, Levanga Hokkaido, Toyota’s engineers to CUE5 to the next level. According to Nomi, CUE5 can shoot “almost 100 percent” on 15-foot free throws, 98 percent on three-pointers from the 22-foot, 1.75-inch international line and better than 60 percent on half-court shots, which travel nearly 46 feet.

By contrast, Stephen Curry clinched just 39 percent of his attempts from beyond 30 feet.

CUE5 is programmed to wave to the crowd upon entering and leaving the court like a human player. It doesn’t, however, experience nervousness. The same can’t be said of Team Toyota, which does a lot of nail biting on the sidelines despite their robot’s phenomenal 1.2-degree margin of error to make a free throw. That drops to 0.8-degree for three-pointers and less than 0.5-degree on half-court shots.

Noise in the distance sensor reading or slight variations in the ball’s size or center of gravity can cause CUE5 to miss on occasion. And while the robot can adjust if a shot goes long or short, it never uses the backboard, preferring the spectacle of a swish.

Filed under: Special Features

Tags: basketball, humanoid, Robotics, Tokyo Olympics, Toyota CUE5