Scientists at the University of Tokyo, led by Dr. Kento Kawaharazuka, have taken a novel approach to this problem. Instead of creating a fully autonomous vehicle, they've developed a robot that can drive a regular car.
Enter Musashi, a musculoskeletal humanoid robot designed to mimic the human body and control a car just like a human driver. This innovative approach could potentially allow non-autonomous vehicles to be driven by a robotic chauffeur.
Musashi isn't your average robot. It's designed with a musculoskeletal structure that closely resembles the human body, featuring 74 "muscles" and 39 joints, excluding the hands. Its hands have five fingers each, and there are pressure sensors in both the hands and feet.
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
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'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
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'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'