Toyota Motor Corporation has unveiled its latest humanoid basketball-playing robot, Cue7, showcasing significant advancements in artificial intelligence–driven motion and control.
Compared to its predecessor Cue6, the new model integrates a greater range of AI-based functions, enabling it to perform complex movements such as dribbling with improved fluidity and precision.
Cue7 made a public appearance during halftime of a men’s B.League game at Toyota Arena Tokyo on April 12. Rising at center court, the robot advanced toward the basket, completed three controlled dribbles, and successfully executed a free throw. It then moved to the opposite side to attempt a three-point shot. Although the ball struck the rim and bounced off, the performance drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.
The Cue project began in 2017 as a voluntary initiative by Toyota employees. In Cue6, introduced in 2022, AI capabilities were limited to specific functions such as adjusting shooting force, while most movements relied on pre-programmed sequences. Additionally, stability issues arose when even one of the two wheels on each foot lost ground contact.
Cue7 represents a major technical leap by incorporating reinforcement learning, a machine learning approach in which AI improves performance through repeated simulation-based practice. The robot’s hardware has also been redesigned, now featuring a single wheel per foot instead of two. These upgrades allow smoother execution of complex actions and significantly reduce the risk of falling, even during rapid movement.
Tomohiro Nomi, research leader at Toyota’s Frontier Research Center and head of the humanoid robot development team, stated, “There is a widespread perception that Japan is falling behind China in physical AI, but we have developed something we can confidently present to the world.”