Toyota Motor Corporation is implementing one of its ambitious technology projects to build the world’s first cities for robots Woven City at the foot of Mount Fuji.
The design took about 10 years. Construction should take another 5 years. The 175-acre site is the former site of the Higashi-Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, 140 km from Tokyo.
The Woven City project was announced at CES 2020 and is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2025. It marks an important milestone in Toyota’s transformation from a car manufacturer to a technology company.
Toyota says that Woven City will be the first in the world a city for robots. Initially, 100 people from among the company’s engineers and employees with their families will live in the city. The number of Woven City residents is expected to grow to 360 in the near future. In the long term, the city’s population will increase to 2 thousand people.
Residents The Woven City is mainly intended to be inhabited by inventors who design and test new technologies and personnel who maintain robotic autonomous systems. The robocity concept is based on the Toyota e-Palette autonomous electric vehicle platform. These electric vehicles will be the key mode of transportation in Woven City. The transportation system will be supported by an underground logistics network for autonomous delivery of goods.
Roads in the city will be divided into 3 categories: for pedestrians, for slower vehicles (scooters, bicycles), for automated vehicles. The goal is to test autonomous systems in a controlled but fully functional urban environment.
«We are building a city where everything — people, buildings, vehicles — is connected through sensors and AI. This is a unique opportunity to create a living digital operating system for urban life», — explains Chairman of the Board of Directors of Toyota Akio Toyoda.
Energy will be supplied through a network of hydrogen fuel cells, complemented by solar panels, water recycling systems, and advanced environmental waste management technologies. Smart homes will include autonomous robotic appliances, artificial intelligence for health monitoring, energy management, and optimization of daily needs.
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Source: Interesting Engineering
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