Tag - robots

 
 

ROBOTS

Toyota Research Institute and Boston Dynamics are set to conduct research on use cases for AI-trained robots in areas such as human-robot interaction.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2024
Toyota joins with Hyundai's Boston Dynamics on AI-powered robots
Toyota has said it has made a breakthrough with artificial intelligence in teaching robots to learn.
NFL referee Shawn Smith reviews video of a coaches challenge during a game between the Chiefs and Chargers in Los Angeles on Sept. 29.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 7, 2024
Pro sports heading toward robotic future
Leagues insist that these systems are not meant to eliminate officials.
Containers are stacked at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT) in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Oct 5, 2024
U.S. port strike throws spotlight on big union foe: automation
Companies view automation as a path to better profit while unions see it as a job-killer.
Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu (center) says the nation's labor shortage is the biggest challenge its convenience stores face.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024
Lawson to open convenience stores of the 'future' next spring in Tokyo
The goal of the project is to help reduce the workload of store staff by 30% by fiscal 2030.
Despite current limitations, the progression toward practical humanoid robots is anticipated, driven by advancements in technology and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2024
The future of robots is coming on two legs
Unlike traditional robots, which have already transformed industries with their transport capabilities, bipedal robots are still in the early stages of deployment.
A remote-controlled BurnBot RX1 prototype produces a containment line during a prescribed burn operation in Paicines, California, on Aug. 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 30, 2024
Robots are starting (good) fires in California
BurnBot's robot keeps combustion within its burning chamber, where propane torches and air blowers bring flame temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
A humanoid robot developed by Ex-Robots winks at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Aug. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 26, 2024
China robots conference spotlights the changing face of humanoids
"The robot industry has broad prospects and huge market potential," said Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
The government is expanding subsidies for the use of robotics by nursing care facilities to reduce the burden on care staff amid a chronic labor shortage.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 25, 2024
Japan to expand nursing care robot introduction support
The government is working to reduce the burden on care staff while maintaining the quality of care services by utilizing robots.
A boy pushes a biped robot developed by LimX Dynamics at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 23, 2024
China's robot makers chase Tesla to deliver humanoid workers
The Asian giant's push into the emerging industry draws from the formula behind its initial electric vehicle drive more than a decade ago.
A Mitsubishi Electric employee prepares a robotic arm for a demonstration of the firm's artificial intelligence technologies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 23, 2024
Mitsubishi Electric fights to keep up with AI data center demand
The Tokyo-based maker of factory automation is a key supplier of optic fiber communication devices that link servers to one another.
An Apple Store in New York on July 29
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2024
Developing new tabletop home device, Apple pushes ahead with robotics shift
The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which would offer a twist on products like Amazon’s Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms’s Portal.
While Japan’s media may influence global perceptions of robots as friendly and lovable, the near-future robots will likely not match the capabilities or roles depicted in TV show's like "Sunny."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 25, 2024
Japan isn't the 'robotopia' Apple TV's 'Sunny' portrays
One of the reasons we still see relatively few robots doing the menial jobs is that human labor is cheap.
Artificial intelligence is transforming various business sectors and the economy. But concerns about humanoid robots replacing all jobs are unfounded, as human dexterity will remain essential for the foreseeable future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024
AI is making robots smarter. They’ll need boundaries.
Where AI meets the physical world — and creates the potential for conflicts — is in manufacturing and logistics.
A researcher at the University of Tokyo shows a face mold covered in human skin tissue at its lab.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 18, 2024
Say cheese: Japanese scientists make robot face 'smile' with living skin
Researchers at the University of Tokyo grew human skin cells in the shape of a face and pulled it into a wide grin, using embedded ligamentlike attachments.
A humanoid robot to be used by West Japan Railway for maintenance operations
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024
Japan deploys humanoid robot for railway maintenance
The machine can use various attachments for its arms to carry objects, hold a brush to paint or use a chainsaw.
An employee works on a laptop next to a drone at SD Guthrie's Sungai Linau estate in Selangor, Malaysia, on June 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2024
Robots are stepping into one of Asia’s dirtiest farm jobs
With global stockpiles of palm oil set for the first back-to-back decline in more than 40 years, Malaysia is pushing for automation to boost production.
GMO Internet Group is making a foray into the artificial intelligence and robot business to spread the use of such tech products and services in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024
Japan’s GMO takes aim at labor shortage with AI and robotics company
It will focus on matching robot and drone manufacturers and AI developers with businesses.
Mitsubishi Electric's TOKUI Fast Accurate Synchronized Motion Testing Robot solves a Rubik's Cube
JAPAN
May 27, 2024
Japanese robot solves Rubik's Cube in record time
Guinness World Records recognized the 0.305-second time achieved by Mitsubishi Electric's machine as a new world best, beating the previous record of 0.38 seconds.
A cardboard cut-out of a cyborg is on display in the Hofburg, the former imperial palace in Vienna, during a conference on regulating autonomous weapons systems often referred as "killer robots," in the Austrian city on Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 30, 2024
AI faces its ‘Oppenheimer moment’ during killer robot arms race
Governments worldwide have taken steps to collaborate with companies integrating AI tools into defense
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on June 5, 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2024
Apple shifts focus from EV to home robotics as ‘next big thing’
Apple’s pursuit of the "next big thing” has been an obsession since the Steve Jobs era, but it’s hard to envision a product that could match the iPhone.

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?