Asratec Corp. said Wednesday it has started offering an operating system for use in the manufacture of robots, and plans to sell a microcomputer board to help amateur enthusiasts build robots on their own.
A unit of SoftBank Corp., Asratec's move shows that its parent company, which recently announced plans to sell humanoid robots to consumers starting next year, sees significant business opportunities in the robotics industry.
"As the world will see more robot development from now on, the number of related businesses will increase . . . We, Asratec, want to focus on the field of OS," said Wataru Yoshizaki, the company's chief robot creator, referring to operating systems.