JAPAN: Researchers have unveiled the next generation bipedal robot as concerns over decreasing labor availability lead some to look to machines to pick up the slack

Record ID: 401678

  • Title: JAPAN: Researchers have unveiled the next generation bipedal robot as concerns over decreasing labor availability lead some to look to machines to pick up the slack
  • Date: 25th October 2010
  • Summary: IBARAKI, JAPAN (OCTOBER 6, 2010) (REUTERS) KAWADA INDUSTRIES BUILDING FLAG THAT READS "KAWADA INDUSTRIES" ASSISTANT MANAGER OF KAWADA INDUSTRIES ROBOTIC SYSTEMS KAZUHIKO AKACHI BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) ASSISTANT MANAGER OF KAWADA INDUSTRIES ROBOTIC SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT KAZUHIKO AKACHI SAYING "This robot is, as one can tell by looking at it, is quite slim
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVAAA9IM3O77O9DFXRLIZHURCOM9
  • Story Text: Japanese researchers have unveiled the next generation bipedal robot as concerns over decreasing labor availability in Japan lead some to look to machines to pick up the slack.
    The robot, HRP-4, was developed as a joint venture between Kawada Industries which built the actual robot and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology(AIST) which developed the software that provides the "brain" for the robot.
    The robot stands at 151 cm (4 ft 11 inches) but weighs in at only 39kg (85 lbs). It boasts 34 moving joints, with seven in each arm..
    Kawada Industries' Robotic Systems Department assistant manager Kazuhiko Akachi, is one of the enginers involved in HRP-4's development.
    "This robot is, as one can tell by looking at it, is quite slim. In other words, it was developed to be the same size and dimensions as a human being." Akachi said.
    Japan is facing a population crisis with nearly a quarter of its population already older than 65. A looming wave of retiring baby boomers is expected to add more pressure to the labour market. The HRP-4 has been designed to help supplement the shrinking workforce.
    "Moreso than robots being used in everyday households, they are more likely to be used in factories. In Japan's case, there is a shrinking graying society, and as such there will be a labor shortage. With that as a background, these robots could work in conjuction with humans." Akachi said.
    Robots in factory settings are nothing new, with specialized robot arms assembling everything from semiconductors to cars, but having a bipedal robot would allow for much more diversity in what the robot could do.
    "If all the robot is doing is repeating the same simple task, then the specialized robots that already work on conveyor belt lines are sufficient. However if a robot is mobile and bipedal in addition to having a similar shape and ability of humans, then one robot could do work over a variety of different fields." Akachi said.
    Kawada Industries explained that while models such as the HRP-4 actually working on the assembly line may still be a decade or more away, other robots that consist of only an upper torso could see work much sooner.
    The "NEXTAGE" and it's developmental counterpart "HIRO" robots consist only of an upper torso but are also perform complex visual tasks and are more flexible than a traditional assembly line robot.
    The HRP-4 is only the latest in a line a robots developed with the first robot developed by Kawada with the first HRP-2 first developed in 2003.
    The immediate predecessor of the current model, the HRP-4C was modeled on a Japanese girl and took part in everything from fashion shows to karaoke contest, although the new HRP-4 is designed for more factory than fashion.
    While the robot may help to solve Japan's labor shortages, it still comes in with a heavy-lifting price tag of 26 million Yen ($US320,000) per unit.
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