Toyota

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation have released the official nickname for their manned pressurized, long-range lunar rover that is powered by fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technology.

JAXA and Toyota have announced that they have agreed to a joint study of the concept for a manned lunar rover for long-range Moon exploration. With a range of 10,000 km (6,200 mi), the rover would be about the size of two minibuses and could carry two passengers, or up to four in an emergency.

What do you do if you're a Japanese car maker facing an aging population that needs more help getting back on their feet than behind the wheel? If you're Toyota, you turn this problem into an opportunity and develop a robotic system to help them regain the use of their legs.

Toyota has announced that on August 21, the communications robot, Kirobo, sent greetings back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Kirobo said, in translation, “On August 21, 2013, a robot took one small step toward a brighter future for all.”

One of the stand-outs at the IRex robotics expo in Japan this week was the Yurina Care Robot from Japan Logic Machine. Essentially a robotic bed, the 3.5 million Yen (around US$41,000) Yurina reconfigures electronically, on-the-fly and does 4kmh