Toyota Invests in Robotic Kitchen Startup
Toyota AI Ventures has announced an investment in YPC Technologies, a startup based on Montreal that specializes in developing robotic kitchens.
You might wonder what cars have to do with kitchens or even robots, but Toyota is working hard to be more than just company that makes cars. For years, Toyota has been increasing its focus on supporting and amplifying human mobility as a whole, not just in the transportation sector, and particularly with regard to the elderly and disabled.
Top Tech: Toyota releases safety software for free
In early 2020, Toyota AI Ventures put out a global “call for innovation.” Its purpose was to attract and invest in early-stage startups developing solutions it could apply in smart and connected cities such as its own prototype, Woven City, which Toyota plans to begin building in 2021.
Woven City is intended to serve as a living laboratory where scientists can explore solutions to mobility and robotic problems. Ultimately, says Dr. Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, the goal is to “amplify human ability and help improve quality of life.”
“It’s easy to imagine automated kitchens becoming a fundamental part of the local, smart city market ecosystem,” added Jim Adler, founding managing director of Toyota AI Ventures. “We are thrilled to support the YPC team as they move their robotic kitchen into that ecosystem.”
Industry Leader: Explore Toyota’s alternative fuel vehicles
The CEO and co-founder of YPC Technologies, Gunnar Grass, says he believes future cities will rely on hyperlocal, automated kitchens to produce restaurant-quality foods. With Toyota’s investment, his company can continue developing the technologies that can make it happen.
Last year, TRI had already shown off a human-assistance robot that could wash dishes by using stereo cameras and deep learning algorithms. It also said it was working on making robots that could put away the groceries, fold the laundry, and perform other such daily tasks.
Increasingly, I can imagine a future of self-driving, limousine-like cars in which occupants are served meals by a kitchen robot that can later clean the dishes. How long will it be before that future becomes a reality, do you think?
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.