The Toyota Engineering Society has created a robot, named CUE, that can shoot hoops with greater accuracy than professional basketball athletes.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), the robot has surpassed the skills of the Japanese B League team Alvark Tokyo. According to the team, CUE can reportedly shoot with almost 100 percent accuracy at short ranges.
Built by a team 17 strong at Toyota during their free time, CUE “was started from scratch,” says a Toyota employee. According to Newsweek, none of the Toyota volunteers had previous experience building robots. They all learned how to program AI through online tutorials.
The robot stands at 6’2″, and can shoot from distances up to 12 feet. The AI system has adapted, learned, and refined during each training session. Now, CUE can execute 200,000 different shot with near perfection.
It doesn’t seem like CUE will be making a team anytime soon, since it’s currently a stationary design. The robo-player stands on a platform that connects to a slew of power cables.
Watch CUE show off its basketball skills in the video below.