In the long list of tasks we'd like humanoid robots to perform for us, shooting hoops is probably close to the bottom – if it makes the list at all. But the CUE bot from Toyota recently set its second Guinness World Record, for the farthest basketball shot by a humanoid robot.
"This robot just sunk a seemingly impossible basketball shot – and made it look easy," begins the press release from Guinness World Records. It details the record-breaking exploits of an AI-powered humanoid and its human development team.
For the past few years, project engineers have been honing the skillset and boosting the capabilities of a basketball-playing robot named CUE. An earlier version already secured a world record in 2019 for the most consecutive hoops. Now the sixth-generation humanoid has nailed the longest shot – launching the ball from 24.55 meters (80.5 ft) away and seeing it arc over the court in Nagakute, Japan, before making the basket.
A few Toyota engineers began working on a crazy idea in April 2017. Even though none of nine members of the Toyota Engineering Society had previous experience in robot development or AI technologies, they embarked on an epic journey to build a robot "that could demonstrate machine learning through human-like intelligence."
When a team member quoted a protagonist from popular comic Slam Dunk – who said "Will 20,000 practice shots be enough?" – it lit the spark for a project to create a humanoid that employed artificial intelligence to gauge the distance of a free throw on a basketball court and could then successfully sink multiple successive shots. Thus the CUE project was born.
Following much trial and error, the first prototype made its public debut at a Toyota Engineering Society event in 2018, managing to impress attendees by nailing nine out of 10 hoops. The CUE bot then engaged in a shootout with professional (human) players from the Alvark Tokyo team, which is sponsored by Toyota.
Its hoop-sinking prowess attracted the attention of company executives, and the project was moved to full-time development and funded for two years.
The second-generation CUE-bot – sporting "pineapple-like resinous skin" fashioned by folks at the Hirose Plant nearby – was ready for its time in the limelight just six months later. Unlike the original, this new version could stand without support and boasted more motor power for longer shots from outside the three-point line.
The CUE team continued to make rapid progress, and the third-gen basketball bot was revealed in April 2019. Improvements included the ability to receive a ball in its left hand, as well as excuting shots from anywhere between the three-point and center lines.
It was this humanoid player that attracted the attention of the good people at Guiness World Records. After some reprogramming and mechanical tweaks, and under the watchful eye of Guinness officials, CUE3 began its marathon effort to set the record for the "most consecutive basketball free throws by a humanoid robot (assisted)."
Six hours and 35 minutes later, and the record for future roboticists to beat was set at 2,020 basketballs consecutively thrown through the hoop – "and it only stopped because the engineers present decided to end the attempt," reports Guinness World Records.
The project team returned to the court of team Alvark Tokyo in November of 2019 for the unveiling of the next-gen CUE-bot, which could now grasp and shoot a ball on its own, and also make an autonomous run for it courtesy of some futuristic skates.
Interestingly, a press release was issued by the team the following month announcing the official transfer of CUE4 to Alvark Tokyo – albeit on a temporary basis – along with its position as shooting guard and vest number 94.
The humanoid player was subsequently selected for an All-Star Game in early 2020, where it got the opportunity to participate in the three-point shootout, and notched up 11 points.
Shooting hoops is all well and good, but what about dribbling. That skill was gained with the introduction on CUE5 in the middle of 2021. "Though it may not be something you notice while watching a basketball game, each bounce of the ball actually differs slightly due to the ball’s air pressure and court conditions," said the team's Takayoshi Tsujimoto.
"A human can unconsciously adjust to the situation, but robots lack that capability. Therefore, we programmed CUE to learn how to accurately read the ball’s position for each bounce and decide how to move his hand, giving him the flexibility to handle any venue. Although he currently uses his left hand, theoretically he could dribble just as well with the right."
This International Olympic Committee requested that this iteration take part in the 2020 Games in Tokyo, where it "showcased its skills" at pre-game and half-time slots.
And that pretty much brings us to the current generation, which introduced on December 24, 2022 and set the Guinness World Record in September of this year. "We aimed to surprise the world by shooting from far away," said project leader, Tomohiro Nomi. "And so, we took on this challenge to shoot from this distance. Using artificial intelligence based on robot structure, it learned and thought of the throwing style that would be the most effective. As a result, I think it led to the current throwing form."
Impressive though this achievement is, the CUE team still has a long way to go before its AI humanoid bests the current human record for the longest basketball shot – which was secured by Joshua Walker in July 2022, and stands at 34.6 meters (113.5 ft).
Sources: Toyota, Guinness World Records