Long lines of people waiting for a test ride, and smiles on the faces of both the riders and the creators! Toyota Times News covers a mobility device straight out of science fiction, created by Toyota engineers.
Self-driving vehicles, flying cars... Making science fiction come to life through the power of technology is the work of engineers.
The Toyota Engineering Society was established in 1947 to help its 20,000 members improve technical skills and contribute to society. It attempts new feats in monozukuri under a different theme each year.
In 2023, they developed Toyota Miraidon based on the theme of Future Mobility. In 2024, based on the theme "What’s this? It's Amazing!" they attempted to create a spherical mobility device able to transport people in a transparent capsule.
This vehicle, which looks like something that could exist only in science fiction, works on the same principle as a hamster wheel. Rails are laid on the inside of the sphere, and when a wheeled cart runs on them, the sphere rotates and moves forward.
Toyota Times News began coverage of this story last June, when the brand-new first prototype, small enough to hold in both hands, would derail after just a few rotations. From this starting point, the engineers had to work to make the sphere two meters in diameter and able to carry human passengers in just four months, making development of this device challenging to say the least.
For the full-size body of the sphere, they sought help from Shinshi, a specialized plastic board manufacturer of and acrylic processor.
Even the workers at Shinshi, which also makes high-strength curved panels for aquariums, admitted this project was difficult, saying they "struggled considerably." However, as the surface of the panels were polished and the initial cloudiness vanished, the Toyota engineers’ expressions grew brighter.
After overcoming countless difficulties, the sphere was unveiled at an event in October to huge success, with lines of more than 200 people. This futuristic spherical mobility device brought smiles to the faces of those riding it for the first time, which in turn made its creators smile.
Even Yuta Tomikawa could not help but say, "What’s this? It's amazing!" upon seeing the final results. Readers will surely find themselves saying the same!
