Toyota interested in buying Japanese robotics division, Schaft

It has been reported that alongside Toyota's rumoured purchase of Boston Dynamics, the company has also acquired Japanese robotics division, Schaft. Nikkei reported that the acquisition of both Boston Dynamics and Schaft was finalised yesterday, although no official announcement has been made. Schaft, known for keeping its work notoriously secret, is a leader in highly advanced humanoid robots, credited in their early stages for designing a motor that improved their strength and balance.

A Schaft robot. YouTube/ SCHAFT Inc.

The Toyota Research Institute is in final talks with Google to purchase Schaft, a Japanese robotics division, Nikkei reported.

Tech Insider reported last week that Toyota was closing in on a deal to buy Google's robotics division Boston Dynamics. But Nikkei reported Wednesday that the Toyota Research Institute is not only in talks to acquire Boston Dynamics, but Schaft robotics as well.

Toyota and Google have yet to agree on the details, meaning the deal could still fall through.

But it's worth taking a closer look at Schaft, considering it's operated in relative secrecy in Tokyo, Japan.

Schaft got its start at Tokyo University's Jouhou System Kougaku (JSK) Laboratory before becoming a private company in 2013. Before spinning off into Schaft, the JSK Lab developed and patented a new motor that provided humanoid robots with better strength and balance, IEEE Spectrum reported at the time.

Schaft wrote about the new motor on its website at the time, according to a 2014 IEEE Spectrum article:

One of the big problems of humanoid robots is the weakness of robot’s power.... The strongest robot with electric motor can generate one tenth power as much as actual human beings can generate. Our team’s robot can generate ten times as much as the strongest robot, which means that our robots can generate the same power of an actual human being can generate.

The technology was seen as a huge advantage to Schaft at the time as the JSK Lab spin-off company prepared for the 2013 DARPA robotics challenge — a contest to see which team can create the best disaster-response robot on the planet.

Google acquired Schaft just a few months before the DARPA challenge, a competition that Schaft dominated. The 5-foot 5-inch, blue, bipedal robot won best in task in four categories: terrain, ladder, debris, and hose, Gizmodo reported at the time.

Here we see the robot driving a car at the DARPA challenge:

Like Boston Dynamics, Schaft builds highly advanced, humanoid robots capable of completing difficult tasks like walking on uneven terrain.

But after Google purchased Schaft, the company went off the radar. It deleted its website and refused to talk to press, even at the 2013 DARPA robotics challenge.

Actually, the first time it really entered the public eye again was in April, when Schaft showed off a new bipedal robot at the New Economic Summit in Japan:

Schaft's latest bipedal robot, shown in April. YouTube/mehdi_san

The still-unnamed robot can carry 132 pounds and walk on uneven terrain.

It can even make its way upstairs.

A spokesperson for Google X, Alphabet's moonshot division that oversees its robotic projects, told IEEE Spectrum that the April presentation was in no way indicative of a specific product roadmap: "[It] wasn’t a product announcement or indication of a specific product roadmap. The team was simply delighted to have a chance to show their latest progress."

It's possible Schaft was trying to get its name out there again after years of silence because it was splitting up from Google, but we can't know for sure until a sale is confirmed.