My Robot: Taxis Just Got Personal

The UK's Daily Mail says a Japanese company has produced a robotic car described as the world's smallest - and Clarkson squeezed his not inconsiderable bulk into it for a drive in Hitachi's Robot for Personal Intelligent Transport System - Ropits, for short.

The tiny car, the Mail reports, can automatically take passengers from A to B without them having to do a thing - just get in and sit.

The one-person robot can collect and drop off a passenger autonomously - though the passenger can take over with a control joystick should things go awry.

Hitachi officially unveiled the new mobility robot in Tsukuba in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, on March 12 2013.

The Ropits was originally developed to help people with walking problems - apparently common among Japan's ageing society - get mobile on the roads and in pedestrian areas.  Clarkson unveiled the P45, designed by the presenter himself, in February on the first of Top Gear's most recent series.

Clarkson tested the four-wheeler in Guildford, southern England, at speeds as high as 50km/h, weaving through traffic though, the Mail reports, looking uncomfortable in the cars tiny cabin. "I’m staggered that Ford, GM, Toyota, anyof the automotive giants, haven’t thought to make a car like this."

The Japanese robot has GPS to find its way, laser distance sensors to avoid obstacles and a gyro sensor to stay upright over uneven surfaces - even kerbs.

The passenger need only specify a destination on a touch-screen map and the machine will head for it; anybody who needs a ride can summon it from any number of points around a city.