Robot of the Week: Toyota's Trumpet Playing Robot

In a moment of writer's block this afternoon, I received an instant message from my boss informing me of the proper spelling of Dromeceiomimus. Which led me to contemplate the possibility of learning about a new dinosaur every day (and in fact you can follow my personal Twitter account to do just that). Which ultimately led to my discovering Robot a Day, which sadly does not have actual robots. Eureka! I can post about a new robot every day on The Launch Pad! Well, I think it's best to take it slow at first, so I present to you a new column: Robot of the Week.

This week's robot is one of my all-time favorites, the Toyota Partner Robot. Originally intended as a companion robot, the coolest feature of this particular humanoid is its ability to play the trumpet. A set of two pneumatic bladders in its mouth continuously change internal pressure to adjust embouchure and play a variety of pitches. It can even play vibrato.

A Stevie Wonder classic:


And that's not all: Toyota has developed several similar robots to form an entire marching band!


Note that the drums looks alarmingly like Rock Band. Also I'm fairly sure that he'll go through a phase in the late 2070s where he experiments with tape splicing, and by the 2080s he'll look something like this: