Toyota to buy Sony's robotics division
A big, yes HUGE, scoop for Nikkei Business - the leading business magazine in Japan.
Toyota is buying Sony's robotics division, including the AIBO, QRIO and the people that work on them. The details such as timing and financial terms are not known to GetRobo at this minute because Nikkei Business has only podcasted the outline of its story, and the other Japanese media outlets have not yet reported on it.
But according to the podcast, the deal came about from Toyota Chairman Fujio Cho who was on the board at Sony when Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer decided to get rid of the money losing divison. Toyota has been working on robots for a while but a Toyota executive in the Nikkei Business article willingly admits that it's work in the "intelligence" does not meet its strength in mechanics. Purchasing Sony's division will fill that gap.
As Yoshiya Sato, editor-in-chief of Nikkei Business comments in the podcast, the deal is indeed a "gorgeous combination" of companies.
Sony's response here.
And an update on this here.
Actually the development of today's very humanoid robot, explained Vanov, stemmed from Toyota's early development work in the 1970's and 1980's of industrial robots for use in the automotive industry, where they are utilized in welding and painting processes. By early this decade, Toyota moved to developing the advanced robots combining industrial robot technologies with the latest control technologies used in automobiles. Commercialization of their use to provide personal and medical assistance, such as elderly care, to humans one day is underway. Additional uses in the automotive industry, such as lifting heavy objects, and other practical applications are also viable as the technology advances.
so i think buy robotic sony division is really a good news for robot lovers...)
my website:
(http://www.4car.net
Posted by: engineer | August 27, 2007 at 02:55 PM