SOCIAL ROBOTICS JAPAN is adapted from a bimonthly column published in Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (日刊工業新聞/Business & Technology Daily Newspaper). The 101-year-old, nationally circulated newspaper is a co-organizer of the iREX International Robot Exhibition and its biennial alternate, Japan Robot Week. The column’s generalist, socio-technological perspective aims to encourage both domestic and international conversation around developments in Japanese robotics.

A deep, largely monocultural history combined with a highly contextual language and society present fascinating but considerable challenges for expatriates who call Japan home. Understanding and appreciating Japanese entertainment is one of the tallest hurdles, and Japanese anime is a perfect example. There are, of course, legions of non-Japanese anime fans around the world, but just as many find it quite impenetrable; we recently discovered a robotics-focused promotional piece that seemed yet another difficult example…at first. The feature, Robot Town Sagami 2028, sponsored by Kanagawa Prefecture’s namesake campaign, turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

Created by Tezuka Productions, the short anime opens with the exuberant celebration of a man who just learned that he’d become a father. At the height of his excitement, however, tragedy strikes. Hospitalized in critical condition, the man finds himself floating above his comatose body, overhearing a grim diagnosis. Suddenly, a very familiar robot boy appears and transports him to an impressive but simultaneously tragic future: his wife and child, surrounded by helpful robots and an array of technological advancements, appear to be living very happily without him. This is the part where foreign audiences can easily get lost in what seems an odd, disjointed, and relative to the nature of the promotional campaign, unnecessarily melancholic narrative.

Now, we won’t spoil the reason why, but we will say that anyone who watches through to the end will find a touching message that’s universally relatable in any culture. Although the setup is a bit disturbing, it ends up being fantastic storytelling, with a hopeful and heartwarming finale, imagining a not too distant future that many predict will become reality: a brave new Japanese economy where robotics and IOT technologies are embedded in everyday life – and that life is very good.

The bilingual version of Robot Town Sagami 2028 is embedded below, and Japanese or not, fan of anime or not, we think you’ll be glad you gave it a watch.

Desiderata:
The Robot Town Sagami organization is one of several municipality-wide, private and publicly funded robotics development and promotional ventures in Japan, some of which fall under a broad governmental initiative referred to as the “Robotic Technologies and Systems for Next-generation Social Infrastructures.” Other examples include Tsukuba Science City and nearby Cyberdyne, Inc.’s proposed Cybernic City (PDF).

If it can be simply installed and removed, if the controls are easy for both veteran and new operators, if together this creates a near-human surrogate, the ActiveRobo SAM could upend the entire R/C car sector. Full-scale R/C cars, that is.

In the final stretch of last October’s Nikkan Kogyo Journal-sponsored Japan Robot Week, as we were just about to pack up the harvest of glossy pamphlets and business cards and join the stream of tired feet returning inland from the Tokyo Big Sight convention center, a bright blue, herky-jerky robot in a chair caught our attention. With maybe 20 minutes of the 3-day event remaining, still humming along on the relative sidelines was Kowa Tech’s ActiveRobo SAM.

Offering little more than a kind of headless, doubled-over skeleton strapped to an office chair, a rep shuffling around with a big remote control, and a TV looping their demo video, the Kowa Tech booth was neither seeking nor receiving a whole lot of attention, and had the floor not been almost empty of attendees we probably would have missed it (yeah, that’s on us). Also, to be fair, they are new to the robo-tradeshow, and, as you’ll see in the video below, an indoor venue really isn’t the place to go all real-world with Kowa Tech’s new product.

Kowa Tech

Counting nearly all of Japan’s major automotive companies as clients, the Tokyo-based engineering firm specializes in custom-built mobile entertainment rigs, emergency response and law enforcement vehicles, medical examination and treatment vehicles, and even some fun stuff like an amphibious tour bus.

L to R: Lighting; Hazardous Fluid Response/Cleanup; Amphibious Bus, Mobile Mammogram – IMAGES: Kowa Tech

While not a robotics company per se, several of the their task- and industry-specific products incorporate hydraulic and pneumatic extenders and manipulators, which, as a platform of expertise, makes a foray into stand-alone robotic systems less a reach and more of a choice.

Simple Utility: Kowa Tech’s ActiveRobo SAM

Pictured above and below (with a brief clip from the Japan Robot Week demo), this collection of appendages in vaguely humanoid form is the business end of a remotely directed robotic vehicle control system. Conceptually, it’s quite simple: joysticks, knobs, and switches manipulated on a custom radio controller direct the flexing and relaxing of pneumatic “artificial muscles” arranged along “arms and legs” that attach to a vehicle’s pedals and levers. When actuated, the robot replicates a human body’s controlling movements.

Kowa Tech claims the system delivers input strength equal to that of human limbs and an overall operational capability 80% that of in-vehicle operation (with gains expected as the system matures). The 3-piece modular robot is weather and vibration-proof, weighs only about 30 kg (66 lbs.), easily installs in under 30 minutes, and can be removed in half that time. Current prototypes are operable from up to 200m, and commercial models are expected to reach 1 kilometer.

Rounded out with video monitoring for an in-vehicle perspective, in theory ActiveRobo SAM is a near-comprehensive surrogate operator. Most of their demos and testing have thus far been limited to excavator and other heavy equipment work, but the company hopes to eventually make the system adaptable to any vehicle.

IMAGES: Kanagawa Prefecture’s Robot Town Sagami

http://youtu.be/Q5rTp3OViC4

Removable Robot Enables an Entire Fleet

Roboticising and/or remotely controlling heavy equipment and other vehicles is novel neither in concept nor implementation. Full-scale R/C vehicles have long been used in disaster zones where secondary dangers such as collapse, landslide, or toxic exposure remain, and they can minimize risks posed by landmines or improvised explosive devices in conflict zones.

While thoroughly useful and justifiable, extant systems can require complicated internal wiring, additional actuation setup, and some measure of mechatronic retooling, all of which – and this is a fundamental shortcoming – is a very expensive, one-off investment in a single vehicle or piece of machinery. If a job depends on remote operation capability, routine breakdowns and damage or even a simple flat tire could at best delay time-sensitive work and at worst make a desperate situation worse.

If the ActiveRobo SAM meets its promise, it’s no exaggeration to say that it could render a wide swath of currently available solutions obsolete. Whether for individual owners, government agencies, or large-scale rental operations (the latter being quite common in Japan), the potential domestic and international market for a simple, relatively affordable, adaptable and independently replaceable remote operation system is significant and largely untapped.

Development Partners & Incubation Initiatives:

The ActiveRobo SAM system was developed with support from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism (MLIT) as part of the Robotic Technology and Systems for Next-Generation Social Infrastructure initiative (次世代社会インフラ用ロボット技術・ロボットシステム) . It is also part of the Robot Town Sagami (さがみロボット産業特区) public relations and robotics education campaign orchestrated by the Kanagawa prefectural government. Additionally, Kowa Tech already has a corporate partner in Caterpillar Japan.

Competition:

Kowa Tech’s nearest rival here in Japan comes from contracting firm Fujiken’s DOKA ROBO, a similar though more complex and traditionally humanoid telepresence robot that runs on SoftBank subsidiary Asratec’s V-SIDO robot OS. The ambitious, stand-alone humanoid is 150 cm tall, actually “sits” in the operator’s chair, and is expected to offer 3D remote viewing and a more familiar control scheme. The DOKA ROBO project is also part of MLIT’s Next-Gen Robotics Initiative and, as part of the exploration and development track, began its own round of trials and testing just last month.

IMAGES: MLIT Robotics Initiative and Fujiken (次世代社会インフラ用ロボット技術・ロボットシステム)

Purchase:

Kowa Tech is aiming for an April 2015 commercial release, making them considerably further along than any known competitor. If in practice the device can be simply installed and removed, if the control scheme is easy to learn and use for both veteran and new operators, and if all this in concert can in fact produce a near-human surrogate, the ActiveRobo SAM system will not only be a coveted stand-alone product, but also an enticing option for Kowa Tech’s entire line of custom vehicles.

ActiveRobo SAM with Controller MSRP: $40,000-$50,000

Addendum on Jobs

(For the brave, the original version of this article serves up an 800-word diatribe on the disingenuous, sensationalizing, disparagingly incompetent pseudojournalism so often poured over the subject of robotics and employment. Click through at your own risk!)

It’s easy to appreciate how Kowa Tech’s ActiveRobo SAM and similar products prompt the subject of robotics’ impact on industrial employment. In this case, it also brings the issue outside of factories and warehouses where robotics and automation have for decades been changing and/or eliminating human roles.

At first gloss, an operator simply shifting from in-vehicle to proximal operation seems a 1:1 trade-off. However, it’s actually quite illustrative of how changes to or elimination of certain roles often results in a net increase in available jobs, e.g., while the number of excavator operator positions is likely to remain static relative to market demand, the ActiveRobo SAM system creates an entirely independent economic infrastructure.

Should the remote operation of heavy equipment and other vehicles proliferate, a new set of jobs will be created: instructors, programmers, maintenance workers, engineers, distributors, and equipment manufacturers. In the case of a labor shortage, remote operation might even open jobs to those with otherwise disqualifying impairments. Point being, the ActiveRobo SAM opens many doors – and closes zero.

There is no question that robotics and other technological advancements will continue obviating human employment in so-called Dirty, Dangerous, and Demeaning work roles. This steady reshaping of work necessitates new training, new skills, and new ways to do old jobs, but we should remember that this gradual evolution began hundreds of years ago and has again and again proven to be a force for both job growth and human development.

Sure, it’s possible that the rise of robotics will be different, but as of now there’s not a lot of evidence pointing in that direction.

IMAGE: Kowa Tech

This post originally appeared on Akihabara News. 

The Dyson 360 Eye autonomous vacuum cleaner went public in Tokyo on September 4th, and it got a lot of attention – enough to make almost any product from almost any industry jealous. There are several obvious reasons: Dyson products are aesthetically pleasing, Dyson products are unique, Dyson products perform well above average across the board, and Dyson is badass at marketing. Just look at their website; a company that makes cleaning machines and fans has a slicker web presence than … actually, than most companies that make or do anything at all.

Also, there’s the new device itself. The steadily plodding iterations of iRobot’s Roomba and its legion of copycats are old hat, and we aren’t really impressed anymore. While the 360 Eye performs the same task, it stands out, and just kinda has that new robot smell. The talking points/broad strokes/things to know are:

• Dyson 360 Eye: Sixteen Years of Research; $47 million Investment
• Cyclone Suction Tech: Miniaturized and Incorporated
• Navigation & Mapping: Innovative 360-Degree Visual Mapping
• App Enabled: Remotely Activate/Schedule Cleanings from iOS or Android
• Mobility: Purple Tank Tracks for Carpet, Hard Surfaces, and Obstacle Negotiation
• Color Variations: Fuchsia; Blue
• Dimensions: Width 242 × Depth 230 × Height 120mm; 2.37kg
• Price: Initially Estimated at $1,200
• Availability: Spring 2015; Japan Only, Other Markets to Follow

… and that last point brings us to:

Q. Why Japan first? Why Japan only (for a time, anyway)?

A. Japan is first now, because Japan was first then (and the market is huge)
In design and engineering circles, James Dyson is famous for meticulous attention to both the performance and the appearance of his company’s products. Lore tells of Dyson creating over 5000 prototype designs before deciding that he’d perfected his first ‘Dual Cyclone’ dust/dirt separation tech. We’re pretty sure someone’s counting scribbles on cocktail napkins there, but the point remains.

In the early 1980s, Dyson finally had a model he believed ready for production, but no household appliance makers in his native UK or in the US were interested. Whether accurate or not, lore also speaks of a Little Guy Makes Good story, i.e., he was dismissed by Hoover and friends because the home cleaning giants were worried about monkeywrenching their comfortable hold on a hugely lucrative market.

But guess who was interested: Japanese appliance company Apex, Inc. They licensed Dyson’s technology and in 1983 produced the G-Force Cleaner. The big pink vacuum was a hit, and it was with the earnings from this licensing venture that Dyson the man created Dyson the company – and things have gone quite well since. So, in a way, bringing the 360 Eye to Japan before all other markets is a full-circle .

And it’s a good place to start 
At the nation-state level, Japan is currently the world’s largest market for puck-shaped robotic cleaners , and there are a number of homegrown and foreign models available. However, as we reported last year, the Roomba, available in Japan for 10 years now, dominates with a 75% share. And it’s important to note that it’s 75% of a fairly large pie:

…Sales in Japan are booming. According to Seed Planning (a Japanese market research and consulting firm), since 2008 the home cleaning robot market has seen a 6-fold increase in yearly sales (approx. 380,000 units sold in 2012), and they project sales of 900,000 units in 2018. In a nation of about 128 million people, if realized that’s some serious market penetration. Given that homes in Japan generally aren’t all that big and don’t have a lot of carpeting, it’s all the more impressive. Among Japan’s massive, dominant middle-class, such expenditures are a luxury but not quite as economically extravagant as one might think…

That was us a year ago, and not a whole lot has changed. The Roomba still rules, but lookout iRobot – Japan’s known the Dyson name for 20 years, and the 360 Eye is coming for you .

http://youtu.be/4y_9V7O1pac

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Recent robotic vacuum launches change industry from niche to mainstream
• Housework 2.0: The battle of the robot vacuum cleaners begins!
• Has Dyson’s robotic dream become a reality?
• Dyson invests £5m in robot lab

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Astronauts: awesome, but only human
It’s cold out there beyond the blue. Full of radiation. Low on breathable air. Vacuous. It’s hard to keep machines and organic creatures functioning and/or alive. Space to-do lists are full of dangerous, fantastically boring, and super-precise stuff.

We technological mammals assess thusly:
“Robots. Robots should be doing this.“

Enter “Team Space Torso”
As covered by IEEE a few days ago, the DLR (das German Aerospace Center) released a new video detailing the ins & outs of their tele-operational haptic feedback-capable Justin space robot. It’s a smooth system, and eventually ground-based or orbiting operators will just strap on what look like two extra arms, plug in to an augmented reality interface, and go to work. Justin’s target missions are the kind of risky, tedious, and very precise tasks best undertaken by something human-shaped, but preferably remotely controlled. He’s not a new robot, but Justin’s skillset is growing (DLR video).

Now, meet the rest of the gang:

NASA’s Robonaut2 (full coverage), the first and only humanoid robot in space, has of late been focusing on the ferociously difficult but mundane tasks of button pushing and knob turning, but hey, WHO’S IN SPACE, HUH? Then you’ve got Russia’s elusive SAR-400, which probably exists, but seems to hide behind, ummm, an iron curtain? Rounding out the team is another German, AILA. The nobody-knows-why-it’s-feminized AILA is another DLR-funded project from a university robotics and A.I. lab with a 53-syllable name (here).

Why humanoid torso-bots?
Robotic tools have been up in space for decades, but they’ve basically been iterative improvements on the same multi-joint single-arm grabber/manipulator. NASA’s recent and successful Robotic Refueling Mission is an expansion of mission-capable space robots, but as more and more vital satellites age, collect damage, and/or run out of juice, and more and more humans and their stuff blast into orbit, simple arms and auto-refuelers aren’t going to cut it.

Eventually, tele-operable and semi-autonomous humanoids will become indispensable crew members, and the why of it breaks down like this: 1. space stations, spacecraft, internal and extravehicular maintenance terminals, these are all designed for human use and manipulation; 2. what’s the alternative, a creepy human-to-spider telepresence interface? and 3. humanoid space robots are cool and make fantastic marketing platforms.

A space humanoid, whether torso-only or legged (see: Robotnaut’s new legs), will keep astronauts safe, focused on tasks that machines can’t do, and decrease the likelihood of space craziness caused by astronauts attempting to hold a tiny pinwheel perfectly still next to an air vent for two hours – which, in fact, is slated to become one of Robonaut’s ISS jobs.

Make sciencey space torsos not MurderDeathKillBots
As one is often want to point out, rather than finding ways to creatively dismember and vaporize each other, it would be nice if we humans could focus on the lovely technologies of space travel, habitation, and exploration. Nations competing over who can make the most useful and sexy space humanoid is an admirable step, so let the Global Robot Space Torso Arms Race begin!

“Torso Arms Race!”
Keepin’ it real, yo.

DLR’s Justin tele-operation interface:

• • •

[SPACEJUSTIN TELE-OPERATION SITUATION – IEEE]

Robot space torso projects:
[JUSTIN – GERMANY/DLR • FACEBOOK • TWITTER]
[ROBONAUT – U.S.A./NASA • FACEBOOK • TWITTER]
[SAR-400 – RUSSIA/ROSCOSMOS – PLASTIC PALS • ROSCOSMOS FACEBOOK]
[AILA – GERMANY/DAS DFKI]

New Japanese exoskeleton pushing into HAL’s (potential) marketshare
We of the robot/technology nerd demo are well aware of the non-ironically, ironically named HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) exoskeletal suit developed by Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai’s also totally not meta-ironically named Cyberdyne, Inc. Since its 2004 founding in Tsukuba City, just north of the Tokyo metro area, Cyberdyne has developed and iteratively refined the force-amplifying exoskeletal suit, and through the HAL FIT venture, they’ve also created a legs-only force resistance rehabilitation & training platform.

Joining HAL and a few similar projects here in Japan (notably Toyota’s & Honda’s) is Kansai based & Panasonic-owned Activelink’s new Power Loader Light (PLL). Activelink has developed various human force amplification systems since 2003, and this latest version of the Loader looks a lot less like its big brother the walking forklift, and a lot more like the bottom half & power pack of a HAL suit. Activelink intends to connect an upper body unit, and if successful, will become HAL’s only real competition here in Japan.
And for what?

Well, along with general human force amplification and/or rehab, this:

福島第一原子力発電所事故 – Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Site

Fukushima Cleanup & Recovery: Heavy with High-Rads
As with Cyberdyne’s latest radiation shielded self-cooling HAL suit (the metallic gray model), Activelink’s PLL was ramped up after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and resulting disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. Cleanup at the disaster area and responding to future incidents will of course require humans in heavy radiation suits with heavy tools possibly among heavy debris. While specific details on both exoskeletons’ recent upgrades and deployment timeline and/or capability are sparse, clearly the HAL suit and the PLL are conceptually ideal for the job. One assumes both will incorporate something like 20-30KG/45-65lbs. per limb of force amplification along with fully supporting the weight of the suit itself, and like HAL, PLL will have to work in a measure of radiological shielding and design consideration. So for now, HAL is clearly in the lead here.

Exoskeleton Competition Motivation Situation
Now, the HAL suit is widely known, widely deployed, and far and away the most successful of its kind ever made. No one else in Japan – in the world – is actually manufacturing and distributing powered exoskeletons at comparable scale. And that’s awesome and all due props to Professor Sankai and his team, but in taking stock of the HAL project’s 8 years of ongoing development, objectively one doesn’t see a whole lot of fundamental advancement. Sure, lifting capacity has increased incrementally and the size of the power source & overall bulk have decreased a bit. And yeah, no one else is doing what Cyberdyne’s doing, but that just might be the very reason why HAL seems to be treading water – and until recently, e.g., Activelink’s PLL, no one’s come along to offer up any kind of alternative.

Digressively Analogizing HAL with Japan & Vice-Versa Maybe
What follows is probably anecdotal, but probably right: See, Japanese economic and industrial institutions, while immensely powerful and historically cutting-edge, are also insular, proud – and weirdly – often glacially slow to innovate or embrace new technologies. With a lot of relatively happy workers doing excellent engineering with unmatched quality control and occasional leaps of innovation, Japan’s had a healthy electronics & general tech advantage for a good long time. Okay but now, thorough and integrated globalization has monkeywrenched the J-system, and while the Japanese might be just as good as ever, the world has caught up. For example, Korea’s big two – Samsung & LG – are now selling more TVs globally than all Japanese makers combined. Okay yeah, TVs ain’t robots, but across the board competition has arrived in a big way, and Japan’s tech & electronics industries are faltering and freaking out, and it’s illustrative of a wider socioeconomic issue. Cyberdyne, can you dig the parallel here?

Back to the Robot Stuff: Get on it, HAL/Japan – or Someone Else Will
A laundry list of robot/technology outlets, including Anthrobotic & IEEE, puzzled at how the first robots able to investigate at Fukushima were the American iRobot PackBots & Warriors. It really had to sting that in robot loving, automation saturated, theretofore 30% nuclear-powered Japan, there was no domestically produced device nimble enough and durable enough to investigate the facility without getting a radiation BBQ (the battle-tested PackBots & Warriors – no problem). So…ouch?

For now, HAL & Japan lead the exoskeletal pack, but with a quick look at Andra Keay’s survey piece here at Robohub it’s clear that HAL and the PLL are in a crowded and rapidly advancing field. So, if the U.S. or France or Germany or Korea or the Kiwis or whomever are first to produce a nimble, sufficiently powered, appropriately equipped, and ready-for-market & deployment human amplification platform, Japanese energy companies and government agencies and disaster response teams just might add those to cart instead. Without rapid and inspired development and improvement, HAL & Activelink, while perhaps remaining viable for Japan’s aging society industry, will be watching emergency response and cleanup teams at home with their handsome friend Asimo and his pet Aibo, wondering whatever happened to all the awesome, innovative, and world-leading Japanese robots.

It’ll all look so real on a 80-inch Samsung flat-panel HDTV.

Activelink Power Loader – Latest Model:

Cyberdyne, Inc. HAL Suit – Latest Model
http://youtu.be/xwzYjcNXlFE

SOURCES & INFO & STUFF
[HAL SUIT UPGRADE FOR FUKUSHIMA – MEDGADGET]
[HAL RADIATION CONTAMINATION SUIT DETAILS – GIZMAG]
[ACTIVELINK POWER LOADER UPDATE – DIGINFO.TV]

[TOYOTA PERSONAL MOBILITY PROJECTS & ROBOT STUFF]
[HONDA STRIDE MANAGEMENT & ASSISTIVE DEVICE]

[iROBOT SENDING iROBOTS TO FUKUSHIMA – IEEE]
[MITSUBISHI NUCLEAR INSPECTION BOT]

For fun:
[SKELETONICS – CRAZY HUMAN-POWERED PROJECT: JAPAN]
[KURATAS – EVEN CRAZIER PROJECT: JAPAN]

Note on the main image:
These images were scraped from the above Diginfo.tv & AFPBBNEWS YouTube videos, respectively. Because there just aren’t any decent stills out there – what else is a pseudo-journalist of questionable competency to do?

This piece originally appeared at Anthrobotic.com on January 17, 2013.