Kirobo: Toyota’s Robot Astronaut Heading for International Space Station

On August 4, 2013, Toyota’s jointly developed robot astronaut, Kirobo, will blast off from Tanegashima Space Centre, heading for the International Space Station. Kirobo will take part in the first-ever human-robot conversation experiment in space when Commander Koichi Wakata arrives on Expedition 38 in November-December. Fuminori Kataoka, Project General Manager Product Planning Group, Toyota Motor Corporation talks about Toyota’s role in the Kibo Robot Project, use of the company’s latest voice-recognitio