Walkman is Dead, Dancegirl Alive.

Virtual robot Hatsune Miku (初音ミク?) is a singing synthesizer application and its female character, developed by Crypton Future Media. It uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid synthesizing technology. Customers can purchase the digital avatal and then program to perform any song on a computer. But that´s not all, now Hatsune Miku, the Singer in the Box, has jumped on stadium stages in 3D Hologram as part of a concert tour, where capacity crowds waved their glow sticks and sang along.

Guess, what´s next? Hatsune Miku downloaded to a female HRP-4C android body. Who will be first to launch  a new generation robotic Dance Girls? Japanese Robot Yuenchi or French Aldebaran? One Hatsune Miku in every home! Let´s Dance!

Toyota Mobility Robot

Toyota's "Mobility Robot", TMR, was developed with main focus on supporting short-range personal transportation. TMR can stably negotiate steps and slopes and is equipped with an autonomous transportation function for indoor use and with a tracking function so that the robot can follow the user. TMR has a traveling range of 20 km on a one hour charge, can reach a top speed of 6 km/hr, and can climb slopes of up to ten degrees. Weight 150 kg, 100 cm tall when stopped for boarding or alighting and 110 cm tall when in motion. Toyota plans to conduct practical application testing at relevant Toyota facilities beginning in the latter half of 2008.

Japan Robotics JV for mass market robots

The robotics fight between Japan and South Korea accellerates. In Japan the four robotics companies ZMP Inc, Business Design Laboratory Co, Vstone Co and Tmsuk have formed the “Association for market creation of the future generation robots” to cooperate in research, development and marketing. After a decade of working in isolation, Japanese robot startups now need a broader, more-agressive front to push products to mass market, said Yoichi Takamoto, Tmsuk CEO and chair of the newly formed group.

The Japanese firms are concerned about South Korea ambitious robotics plans to put a robot in every household by 2020. The South Korean government has mobilized companies and scientists to help integrate robots into Korean society. The country plans to build two robot theme parks by 2013 and even drafted a “Robot Ethics Code” last year to prevent robot-human abuse. In February, the National Assembly passed a bill to spur development and marketing of intelligent robots. The law also established investment firms to provide financial support for robotics manufacturers.

Motoman takes the lead with 2 hands

Yaskawa Motoman SDA-10

In an interview with John P. Desmond of Online Newsletter Robotic Trends Craig Jennings CEO of Motoman, one of the worlds´s leading industrial robots manufacturer with nearly 200.000 robots worldwide, explained the innovative idea with a two hand industrial robot.

Motorman is targeting a new market for manual labor-intensive operations. Human tasks such as handling, manipulation and assembling can now be automated with two hand robots. The price for a dual-arm 15 axes, 20 kg payload robot is about $110.000. That price makes it very competitive with the total cost of labor i China according to Jennings. The advantages with robots are also no risk of intellectual property theft, having full flexibility to meet varying production needs, being very responsive to production changes. New applications for two hand robots are drug discovery robotics, clinical lab robotics, alternative energy production, such as solar reflector panels, humanoid robotics, aerospace.

If Jennings is right a new wave of industrial entrepreneurship and robocraft could hit local markets and revitalize local production all over the world from Kiruna to Cape Town. With one two hand intelligent robot in every workshop local production may become competitive again as an alternative to centralized mass production in low labor cost countries with all its negative consequences for humans, nature and climat.

Why not develop a tree, four, five hand robot that can do thing we never dreamed about. There is room for smarter robots in the future, be sure! Multi hand robot - a markets signal worth watching!

Read: Motoman Expands Into Humanoid Robotics: A Conversation with Craig Jennings Industrial Automation Robotics Trends

Japanese Robot Show 2008

The Kennedy Center in Washington hosted in February a Japanese robot show including Honda's ASIMO and the Toyota Partner Robot playing the trumpet. Other robots on display included the humanlike Actroid DER2, Paro, a stuffed seal used for therapeutic purposes, Wakamaru, the Mitsubishi robot, and the robo-dog Aibo.

The show demonstrates Japanese robotics visions and engineering excellence but also lack of market successes. Sony´s Aibo and Mitsubishi´s Wakamaru are no longer aivailable on the market because of marekting and technical problems. Today the household robot market is dominated by US company irobot that has delivered more than 2,5 million vaccum cleaning robts and continues to develop new application such as mobile videobots for domestic and military use.

New working humanoid: HRP-3 Promet Mark II

The new HRP-3 Promet Mark II is designed to work in tunnels, disaster zones and other dangerous environments such as nuclear power plants. Jointly developed by Kawada Industries, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and others, HRP showed off its skills tightening bolts and screwing screws.



Rain- and dust-proof, the latest robot in the HRP series stands 160 cm tall and weighs 68 kg. HRP-3 has 42 degrees of freedom and has improved grasping ability. The robot can operate autonomously or by remote control. The price for the robot will be $80.000-150.000 when ready for the market in 2010.




(HRP - Humanoid Robotics Project).

Home Robot for Rent

Japanese robot manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has announced that its humanoid communication robot Wakamaru is now available for rent. Wakamaru has vision, auditory and touch sensors and was launched last year. The rental project is aimed at businesses, hospitals and events, where the robot can be used as receptionist or guide. Wakamaru understands about 10,000 japanese words, can retrieve information or emails from the Net with its wireless LAN link.

The daily rental fee varies according to the lease length. For a lease of 1-5 days, it's 120,000 yen ($970), while 21-30 days is only 20,000 yen ($160). Shipping and management charges extra. The rentals will come with touch panels that can display venue maps and other info.

Global Robotic Visions

Japanese robot survey

According to japan.internet.com 69% of Japanese want to use domestic robots in the future but 18% do not.

(Google translation from japanese)

“We would like to utilize,” that when the housekeeping which in 222 people who reply is wanted helping concretely in the robot is asked, “cleaning” occupied 90.5% (201 people) with preponderant large number, next “laundry” 50.5% (112 people), “cooking kitchen work” 48.2% (107 people) with became. On the one hand, “care 22.5% of the garden” (50 people), “nursing 20.3% the parent” (45 people) approximately 2 it was restricted comparatively, “playmate 14.0% of the child” (31 people), “shopping” 13.1% (29 people) with continued.By the way, when in the future it becomes some existence, the user you probably think the robot home appliance? “The electrification product 48.8% (161 people) with was most to the last,” below, 28.5% “of the assistants” (94 people), 11.5% of the “housekeeping ladies” (38 people), with continued.

In 2005 MyVoice surveyed 17,958 people registered in the MyVoice community; 42% male and 39% in their thirties.
Q1: Do you think you’d want to use a robot in your home?
I absolutely want to use (13.9%), I probably want to use (36.0%), I can’t say whether I want to or not (29.6%), I don’t really want to use (12.2%), I absolutely don’t want to use (8.3%)
Q2: What sort of robot functions do you want to use? (Multiple answer)
Cleaning the house (58.4%), Crime prevention (55.3%), Home minding (39.2%), Tidying up after meals (34.4%), Clothes washing (26.8%), Ironing (23.1%), Cooking (22.1%), Carrying baggage (21.8%), Healing (19.9%), Play (18.9%), Nursing (17.7%), Driving car (16.9%), Work or study help (15.3%), Communication or chat (15.1%), Health management (12.0%), Child minding or child eduction (10.4%), Others (2.2%), I don’t want to use a robot (11.3%), No answer (0.2%)

Note: the difference between “crime prevention” and “home minding” is probably that “crime prevention” implies detection of intruders, whereas “home minding” is more just monitoring the house, answering the phone or the door, watching the cat, etc.

Q3: If you bought a robot, up to about how much would you pay?
Up to 10,000 yen (11.9%), 10,000 to 100,000 yen (37.8%), 100,000 to 200,000 yen (13.4%), 200,000 to 300,000 yen (7.0%), 300,000 to 500,000 yen (5.2%), 500,000 to 1,000,000 yen (5.0%), 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 yen (1.1%) Over 10,000,000 yen (0.2%) I don’t think I want to buy (18.0%), No answer (0.5%).
Q4: Are you uneasy about the spread of home robots?
I feel completely uneasy about it´(6.7%)
I’m a little uneasy about it (27.4%)
I can’t say whether I am uneasy or not (34.1%)
I don’t really feel uneasy (22.4%)
I don’t feel uneasy at all (8.4%)
No answer (1.0%)