See The Toyota e-Palette Vehicles That Will Be Used To Transport Athletes And The Physical Challenge At The Olympics

The 2020 Olympic game will be a game of technology, science, and Artifical Intelligence. Japan is set to show the world why it remains the tech hub of the world in terms of cars, design and futuristic cars.

One of the futuristic vehicles that Toyota announced at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show 2019 was Toyota e-Palette. The company announced that it would supply up to 20 e-Palette vehicles specially designed to support athlete mobility during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Toyota e-Palette is automated, loop-line transportation to transport athletes and related staff around Olympic and Paralympic villages. It’s a battery-operated, autonomous vehicle adapted specifically during the games based on feedback from athletes about their mobility needs in the past games.

During the development process, athletes, especially Paralympians, helped the design team to better understand how e-Palette can meet the needs for simple, convenient, and comfortable mobility. This project is not just about designing a vehicle but it also offers great opportunities for passengers to interact with each other, share new experiences, and even be moved emotionally.

This is actually not a new design, e-Palette was announced in 2018 as a service vehicle. But for Tokyo 2020 Version, e-Palette has been adapted to meet the unique needs of Olympic and Paralympic villages with large doors and electric ramps. This new design allows for all athletes to board quickly and easily. This vehicle will be controlled by an automated driving system that can operate up to 20km/h supported by an on-board safety operator.

See photos of the vehicles below... 

Toyota Supports Tokyo 2020 with Specially-designed "APM" Mobility Vehicle

In a bid to make 2020 Olympic memorable, fun and exciting, Toyota Motors have partnered with the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Team to make unique shuttle buses during the fiesta.

The automaker unveiled the shuttle bus which will be used at the event and it is called APM (Accessible People Mover), it is an all-electric vehicle it designed especially for next summer's event. The open-air, three-row vehicle can reach speeds of up to 12 mph and accommodate up to five passengers. Each car is powered by lithium-ion batteries and can run 100 kilometers on a single charge. A fleet of 200 APMs will be used to transport people to different competitions and the Olympic Village.

Unsurprisingly, Toyota's APM isn't meant for the masses. The open-air vehicles resemble large golf carts, rather than futuristic vessels of public transportation. There's a good reason why. Toyota intends it to be a "last mile" solution for staff and athletes, as well as visitors with accessibility needs -- such as the disabled, pregnant women, the elderly or families with small children. Each APM can accommodate a wheelchair or a stretcher and includes an access ramp.

This transportation solution will no doubt be vital for disabled athletes and guests.

Toyota is expected to reveal even more innovations ahead of the event, including a flying car that will light up the Olympic torch and robots that can bring food and drinks to guests. The automaker is even planning on building robots that can assist guests in wheelchairs. With any luck, the 2020 Olympic Games will be a demonstration of technology's real-life impacts -- and not just futuristic whimsy.

Watch the video below...

Toyota and Panasonic Unveils Robots To Help Visitors At 2020 Olympics - Photos

It’s no secret Japan wants to use the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a platform to flex its tech-induced muscles. Since it was awarded the games six years ago it has repeatedly outlined aims to use technology to achieve various different things such as facial recognition to streamline the entry of athletes, the launch of a robo-taxi service, and even recycling e-waste to create the Olympic medals. Now its efforts include the Tokyo 2020 robot project, which will bring all of its initiatives together under one roof.

The Tokyo 2020 robot project brings together experts like Panasonic and Toyota who unveiled new robots the project’s launch event last week. Toyota unveiled several new robots that it says will be able to assist disabled people attending the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Built by Toyota, the Human Support Robot (HSR) and Delivery Support Robot (DSR) will work together to provide assistance to spectators. HSR is a meter-high machine with a built-in arm for picking up trays and baskets, and the delivery support robot (DSR), functions as a mobile waste bin but carries snacks and other items when ordered via an app on a tablet or smartphone. Officials plan to deploy up to sixteen HSRs and around 10 DSRs, most of them at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo.

The robots are designed to aid visitors, especially those in wheelchairs by carrying food and other goods, guiding people to their seats, and providing event information. panasonic also showed off a power assist suit which works to provide support to the back and hip area so that wearers can perform lifting tasks without fear of injury. Panasonic said it plans to use 20 of the suits at the Olympics to assist in a range of lifting tasks, such as helping visitors with their luggage.

See The New 2020 Toyota Supra In All Eight Color Options

Toyota has unveiled the eight different color options which North American buyers of the all-new 2020 GR Supra will have to choose from. While no configurator has been released, we can at least play around with the available paints.

We have only seen the new Toyota Supra in a select few exterior colors—until now. Toyota's website now shows all eight of the new sports car's exterior hues, which include the following: Absolute Zero White, Nocturnal Black, Renaissance Red 2.0, Phantom Matte Gray, Tungsten Silver, Turbulence Gray, Nitro Yellow, and Downshift Blue. So we put together a gallery of the Supra outfitted in each of these paint options so that you can pick your favorite. There isn't a configurator live yet, but Toyota has released pricing and full info on the Supra's trim levels and options.

What about the standard models?

Base GR Supras will also be offered with these three paint options as well as Phantom Matte Grey, Tungsten Silver, Turbulence Gray, Nitro Yellow, and Downshift Blue.

Toyota will start deliveries of the new Supra with the Launch Edition models, arriving in dealerships this spring. Standard Supra models, available in the eight different colors and shades, won’t land on showroom floors until the fall.

Toyota Motors and JAXA Go Into Space Exploration

JAXA and Toyota Motor Corporation have announced that they will collaborate on international space exploration and the first step would be to develop a manned, pressurized rover that employs fuel cell electric vehicle technologies. This mobility is considered necessary for human exploration activities on lunar surface because even with limited amount of energy we can send to the moon, that pressurized rover would still be able to cruise lunar surface more than 10,000 km. The main goal of this international space exploration is to achieve sustainable prosperity for all humankind, not just for specific countries. This ambitious goal requires coordination between robotic missions and human missions. Many countries are competing with one another to advance their technologies to answer challenges from lunar and Martian exploration, but the good news is, they are also advancing their cooperation effort.

Hiroshi Yamakawa, JAXA President, says that this agreement between JAXA and Toyota will strengthen their international space exploration mission. Manned rovers with pressurized cabins will play an important role in full-fledged exploration on the lunar surface. Through joint studies going forward, Toyota will put their excellent technological abilities related to mobility towards the realization of a manned, pressurized rover. Toyota believes that cars play active roles as our partners on earth, this project allows Toyota to develop this mobile technology even further in terms of durability, performance, and fuel cell environmental technologies.

Toyota space mobility concept must meet specific requirements to move on the Lunar surface. Lunar gravity is one-sixth of that on Earth, it has a complex terrain with hills, cliffs, and craters, the rover would be exposed to radiation and temperature conditions that can be much harsher than on Earth, not to mention that ultra-high vacuum environment.

Here’s the concept proposal of future lunar mobility:

• Length: 6.0 m; width: 5.2 m; height: 3.8 m (about the size of two microbuses)
• Living space: 13m3
• Capable of accommodating two people (four people in an emergency

A Look At The New 2020 Land Cruiser Heritage Edition

Toyota has a new Heritage Edition version of the legendary Land Cruiser SUV that features several visual changes and equipment changes. But what we're most excited about is the heritage badging that has been applied, evoking memories of Toyota 4x4s of yore.

The most prominent of these badges is the "Toyota Land Cruiser" emblem on the D-pillars, with an italicized and underlined "Toyota" logo in all caps and a cursive-look "Land Cruiser" script. Its appearance is reminiscent of the front-fender badge on the iconic FJ40. The special bronze 18-inch BBS wheels also have a retro-look "Toyota" badge on the center cap. While this model isn't celebrating a particular anniversary, the company does note that the Land Cruiser has been a part of its U.S. lineup for more than six decades without interruption, first arriving on our shores in 1958.

Other exterior changes include black accents for the grille, darkened chrome trim, a choice of either white or black paint, and the removal of the running boards. Inside, black leather is the only upholstery choice; the bronze color from the wheels carries over to contrast stitching on the steering wheel, seats, and other bits. Toyota removed the third row of seats to maximize cargo capacity, giving the Land Cruiser a five-seat configuration like its Lexus sibling, the LX, which added a two-row model last year. The cooler in the center console has also been jettisoned to open up more storage space.

Toyota says it will build 1200 of these special editions for our market—not all that limited a quantity if you consider that the company only sold a total of 3222 Land Cruisers in the United States last year. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but it should sit a couple thousand dollars higher than the Land Cruiser's current $86,060 starting price when it goes on sale this summer.