NEWSWORTHY
Toyota's Cue 3 robot can't slam dunk or even dribble, but it shoots a mean 3-pointer
It can't dribble, let alone slam dunk, but Toyota's basketball robot hardly ever misses a free throw or a 3-pointer. The 207-centimeter-tall (6 feet 10-inches) machine made five of eight 3-point shots in a demonstration in a Tokyo suburb Monday, a ratio its engineers say ...
Robot overlords wouldn't be the worst
Japan to put robotics prowess on show during 2020 Olympics by helping staff and visitors alike
Acting on its aim to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics "the most innovative in history," organizers on Friday unveiled robots that will be deployed to assist spectators and staff during the games. The robots shown to reporters are to be used as part ...
Japan's Komeito political party seeks international regulations on robotic weapons
A project team of Komeito, the junior partner in the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition, has presented to Foreign Minister Taro Kono its proposals for an international agreement to regulate robotic weapons development. Deployment of lethal autonomous weapons systems, or LAWS, cannot be overlooked in ...
Robot rights: From Asimov to Tezuka
Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" are fictional rules, so why do we keep looking to them for guidance? The closest thing to real-world robot law we could have more seems likely to develop around the question of when autonomous military drones can make "kill" ...
A wearable "third arm" for construction workers is among the latest innovations under development in Panasonic Corp.'s burgeoning collaboration with academia to make robots an increasing part of people's lives in aging Japan. Panasonic already has expertise in using robots in manufacturing but has reached ...
Kannon Bodhisattva robot unveiled at Kyoto temple to share Buddha's religious teachings
A robot modeled after Kannon Bodhisattva and designed to explain the teachings of Buddha in plain terms was unveiled to the media at Kodaiji Temple in the city of Kyoto on Saturday. In a dimly lit hall of the temple, the robot — named Mindar ...
Sharp Corp. on Monday released three new models of its RoBoHoN humanoid robot with a wider range of use for families and corporate clients. The new lineup — two walking models and one that remains seated — focuses more on family users with small children, ...
Tepco to deploy robot for first contact with melted fuel from Fukushima No. 1 nuclear disaster
The owner of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 power plant is trying this week to touch melted fuel at the bottom of the plant for the first time since the disaster almost eight years ago, a tiny but key step toward retrieving the radioactive ...
Long-distance laundry: Japanese startup unveils remote-controlled robot that deals with your dirties
In a few years, perhaps for some the most dreaded household chore may be taken over by robots. Robot startup Mira Robotics unveiled Thursday a machine that performs a range of laundry duties while controlled remotely. The new service, called ugo, hopes to resolve two major ...
Tokyo mecha bar targets middle-aged fans of the anime genre as it reopens following remodeling work
Sipping booze while being surrounded by a small army of robot figures may not be a relaxing setting for ordinary bar-goers. But that's the sort of place where middle-aged fans of the mecha anime genre, which focuses on giant robots or machines controlled by people, ...
Three common assumptions skew economists' forecasts of automation's impact on employment.
