Toyota plans to deploy 400,000 in-house ELEY humanoid robots in its global production network as part of a massive factory modernization program, Nikkei reported. Starting in 2028, Toyota and the group's companies intend to invest about $6.42 billion annually in the reconstruction and restructuring of factories, introducing 150,000 robots at Toyota enterprises and 250,000 at the group's enterprises.
ELEY weighs 50 kilograms, moves on wheels, uses two-fingered hands and is powered by batteries and a power cord. The robot is trained to perform tasks from workers who, while performing their normal duties, wear specially designed devices that match its fingers. Initial applications include moving parts between boxes and fabric assembly. During a demonstration for investors, ELEY folded T-shirts with near perfect accuracy after 1,500 repetitions of training over two weeks.
Toyota intends to share training data between factories around the world, which will allow robots to reproduce learned skills and, ultimately, help train new employees. This initiative is based on the manufacturing experience of Toyota and its 18,000 takumi craftsmen (highly qualified specialists). Executive Vice President Hiroki Nakajima emphasized that the goal is to collaborate between humans and robots, not replace employees, while ELEY is already being trained on some production lines.