Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
TOKYO ~ Two years ago this week explosions and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Genpatsu in northeastern Japan created this nation’s worst man-disaster. The ability to perform heavy duty repair work in the highly radioactive environs of a damaged nuclear reactor was one of the first obstacles that nuclear engineers faced at Fukushima Daiichi. To outside observers of Japan, the answer seemed simple: send in Japan vaunted robots. But the myth of Japanese robot supremacy was blown to bits by Fukushima Daiichi. Yes, Japan had talking robots, robot children, sexy fembots, robot pets and manufacturing robots, but it hadn’t produced machines mobile, powerful or agile enough to be of any use in a real world disaster scenario. So, the Japanese ate some humble pie and called Boston-based iRobot, maker of the vacuuming robot Roomba, which sent Japan its PackBot and Warrior robots which became the first robots to enter and inspect Fukushima’s Daiichi’s damaged reactors. [youtube]j7r29YxICBw[/youtube] But since Fukushima Daiichi, Japan has indeed stepped up its robotics game. Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Honda, Panasonic, and Toyota have all boosted funding and investments of their proprietary bot expertise, and the Japanese government has also increased support toward university robotics laboratories and private-public partnerships. So, if the triple meltdowns had a silver lining, it was the Japanese robotics industry’s new focus away from cute machines and toward capable ones. Akihabara News has a great article by Reno J. Tibke of how Fukushima sparked Japan’s robot renaissance. ~Rachel Roh
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That’s Eugenia Yuan in a Honda commercial. I only ask, where are the other cars on the busy urban streets of LA? It seems peaceful. [youtube]B0z65so8rvk[/youtube] (youtubelink)
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The production is going down in China falling to 40%. The staff has suspended night shifts. The bonus is for other car makers who are seeing their sales go up! Hurray for them and it does show that car sales continue in one of the largest car markets, but just not for Japanese ones. Yes, the territory dispute continues… “South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co’s China sales climbed 15 percent to 84,188 vehicles last month, while Volkswagen’s Audi boosted sales by 20 percent, BMW by 55 percent and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz by 10 percent.” (Businessinsider – Japanese Cars in China)
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[youtube]LOGJvC6liu0[/youtube] Omni traction wheels by Honda. This might end up being a hit for those who are too tired or have aspirations to get heavier. Imagine food coma can exist, but now you don’t have to walk anymore? Who’s going to use this again? Can it go a bit faster?
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The Asimo robot can now run, grab cups, open jars and jump. This is starting to get weird. Watch the running part! The technology is amazing and what’s next? Swimming? [youtube]lrHT_3cG_UI[/youtube]
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