Toyota Plans to Deploy Humanoid Robots in Manufacturing Plants Starting 2028
Toyota Motor Corporation plans to introduce humanoid robots across its global manufacturing operations starting from 2028. The company aims to deploy up to 400,000 of these robots as part of factory upgrades and new production capacity expansions. Toyota will invest approximately JPY 1 trillion (USD 6.4 billion) annually beginning in 2028 for this initiative. The humanoid robots include the newly developed 'ELEY' robot, which is battery-powered and capable of performing tasks such as picking up components and folding fabrics. These robots are currently learning from human workers to improve their efficiency and adaptability on production lines. Toyota emphasizes that these robots will work alongside humans rather than replace them. The company plans to centralize the data collected during this process, using it for programming new robots and potentially training future employees in a robot-assisted environment.
Topics: corporate investment human-robot collaboration manufacturing automation robotics