Tokyo Olympics

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp., a major Olympic sponsor, is readying various robots for next year's Tokyo Olympics. The latest "field support robot," which looks like a cart, will also be picking things up: the javelin, discus or hammer on the Olympic field.

TOKYO - Japanese robotics maker ZMP Inc has partnered with a taxi operator in Tokyo, as part of its plans to launch a self-driving taxi in the city in time for the 2020 Olympics, CEO Hisashi Taniguchi said on Thursday. Japan's taxi industry, faced with a labor crunch due to an aging population, has been looking at new technologies to drive growth. The sector may also have to deal with more competition in the future if the government allows ride-sharing services such as Uber to operate

It's the biggest Mirai around.

Toyota will reportedly broaden the Mirai lineup with a smaller, cheaper model for Japan, and it will launch in 2019 just before the Tokyo Olympics. The launch would be the perfect time to take advantage of the country's hydrogen push.

Toyota isn't going to let its Olympic sponsorship go to waste. In time for the 2020 games in Tokyo, the company wants to have at least eight new vehicles ready, including three possibly powered by fuel cells.

The government in Tokyo, Japan, is embarking on an aggressive plan to put 6,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and have 35 hydrogen refueling station in the city in time for the Olympic games there in 2020. It's working with Toyota and Honda to hopefully make the goal a reality.