CUE3

Third-generation basketball humanoid that shot about every 12 seconds and could score from the centre line about 12 m away.

Price: —Not published
Height: —Not published
Weight: —Not published
Payload: —Not published
Speed: —Not published
Battery: —Not published

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Why it matters

Set the Guinness World Records title for most consecutive basketball free throws by a humanoid robot (assisted): 2,020 in a row on 17 May 2019.

Real-world use

Debuted at an Alvark Tokyo vs Sunrockers Shibuya game; later versions CUE4 (2019) and CUE5 (Tokyo 2020 Olympics, 2021) added moving and dribbling.

Timeline

First shown: 2019-04-10
Released: Not yet

Alvark Tokyo vs Sunrockers Shibuya, B.League

Maker

Toyota Research InstituteCompany · founded 2016 · Los Altos, California, United States

Toyota subsidiary; launched with $1 billion over five years.

Public attention

A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current humanoids.

No Wikipedia article of its own yet
3 news stories from reputable press listed on this page

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

The parts the company has talked about publicly.

Movement: Stationary
Actuators & motors: Electric motors in the throwing arm; from CUE2 onward the motors were made smaller, moved inside the body and given more output to throw farther (Toyota). No count or torque published.
Hands: Simple ball-holding hand; the team changed the follow-through so the arm no longer dropped after a shot, letting the next ball be loaded quickly.
Materials & build: Resin exterior made by Hirose Plant engineers; about 600 m of wiring inside (Toyota figure for the CUE robots in 2019).
AI & software: Shoots about every 12 seconds; Toyota describes AI that calculates distance to the goal, but names no specific method for CUE3.
Other details: Signature shot from the centre line about 12 m away. Toyota notes motor and power-supply current varies between throws and each throw nudges the robot's position, both sources of misses.

Named suppliers:Hirose Electric

Lineage

Every Toyota Motor Corporation humanoid in order.

Toyota Research Institute also makes 1 machine and 1 vehicle. See every Toyota Research Institute robot

Watch CUE3

Video: Toyota Motor Corporation on YouTube. Plays from youtube-nocookie.com when you press play.

Made, sold and where

Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.

Price: Not published
How to get one: No official buying page found
Built: 1 (research robot)
Sold or delivered: not sold
Where it is sold or used: Toyota, Hirose Plant, Toyota City, Japan
Customers and pilots: Alvark Tokyo (B.League) performances

News

The latest 3, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.

2019-06-24
Toyota explains how CUE3 hit 2,020 free throws in a row
Toyota's development diary describes the 6 hour 35 minute Guinness attempt and the team's rotation every 50 throws.
Toyota
2019-05-17
CUE3 sets Guinness free-throw record
The robot made 2,020 consecutive assisted free throws, a Guinness World Records title for a humanoid robot.
Toyota
2019-04-10
CUE3 debuts with a centre-line shot
Unveiled at Alvark Tokyo vs Sunrockers Shibuya, its long shot went viral and clips passed 30 million views.
Toyota

Sources

Figures come from the maker. Every link below backs something on this page.

Toyota Toyota's AI basketball robot CUE3 sets Guinness record Toyota CUE6 unveiled (CUE project timeline) Toyota The Development Diary of CUE, the AI Basketball Robot: First story

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