Toyota to open world’s first robot city later this year, and other technology news you need to know

Toyota is set to open the world’s first robot city later this year. Located at the base of Mount Fuji near Tokyo, Woven City will serve as a test-bed for new mobility, infrastructure and sustainable technologies.

First announced in 2020, the Toyota Motor Corporation expects to welcome 100 residents - mostly made up of Toyota and Woven by Toyota (WbyT) employees and their families - by the autumn, before expanding to 360 people during Phase I as external inventors and other groups are invited in.

Built on the former grounds of the Higashi-Fuji plant, resident groups will be largely made up of inventors who are designing the new technologies and ‘weavers’ who will use the systems daily and provide feedback on their functionality.

Autonomous vehicles will be the main transport while underground logistics networks will allow for the delivery of goods. Road vehicles will link to a traffic light system, allowing them to ‘request’ a green light before they reach intersections.

Access to offices and facilities will be via a facial recognition system and homes will be equipped with tablet-like terminals which can control up to 100 devices, such as electrical appliances.

“We want to come up with better kinds of energy management systems,” Akari Yasuda told the Toyota Times. “The system we’ve built allows us to grasp how residents are using electricity in their homes right at this moment."

If successful, the plan is to establish a model for other cities to replicate.

Researchers at MIT have created a machine learning-based adaptive control system to help autonomous drones navigate unpredictable conditions.

They say the system could ensure machines can be deployed to tackle environmental challenges such as wildfires, where high winds can knock them off course.

The technique means that the person programming an autonomous drone would not need to know anything about the conditions. “Instead, the control system’s artificial intelligence model learns all it needs to know from a small amount of observational data collected from 15 minutes of flight time,” MIT said in a press release.

It is then able to determine which optimization algorithm will allow the drone to adapt to different disturbances. In simulations, the adaptive control system has gone off-course 50% less.

As well as helping to tackle disasters such as wildfires, researchers say the system could also allow for more efficient delivery of heavy parcels, even in strong winds.

“By leveraging meta-learning, our controller can automatically make choices that will be best for quick adaptation,” says MIT professor Navid Azizan.

Researchers from the University of Texas have developed an ‘e-tattoo’ device which they hope will help people in high-stakes jobs track their mental workload. The wireless, ultra-thin technology is composed of a graphite-based conductive material that sticks to users’ foreheads. Electrodes can then detect brain activity. The device may be useful for professionals such as pilots and healthcare workers, say the researchers - any job where mental workload management is important to prevent serious mistakes.

Amazon is said to be developing humanoid robots to carry out deliveries to customers, the Guardian reports. According to a source, the tech company is creating a testing facility to explore the capabilities of robots to support delivery drivers during drop-offs.

The United Arab Emirates’ new, large-scale artificial data centre is set to come online in 2026 and will be powered by 100,000 Nvidia chips. The Stargate UAE project is being hosted on a 10-square-mile site in Abu Dhabi and will eventually host 5 gigawatts worth of data centres.

OpenAI is buying a hardware start-up for $6.4 billion, its biggest acquisition to date. The company, named io, was founded by former Apple product designer Jony Ive who designed the first iPod, iPhone, MacBook Air, Apple Watch and Airpods. It's not yet clear what products are in development.

Nintendo’s latest console, the Switch 2, sold over 3.5 million units worldwide in the first four days after its launch, becoming the company’s fastest-selling console to date. It is the successor to its Switch device which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017. The new version features a larger screen and better graphics.

Many of society's heavy industries - shipbuilding, construction, offshore energy - remain analogue in a digital world. However, a new centre in Denmark aims to develop advanced robotic and digital solutions for heavy industry. Read this article to find out how.

Research suggests up to 60% of the physical inputs to the global economy could be produced biologically, offering a transformative opportunity to reshape industrial production. But, to realize the full potential of a bio-based economy, bioindustrial manufacturing must scale significantly. See why a coordinated, international approach will be essential to harnessing biomanufacturing’s potential in this piece.

The US government recently announced proposals aimed at speeding up the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles. But are self-driving vehicles ready to take to the road? This article explores the readiness of personal vehicles, robotaxis and autonomous trucks.