Giant Humanoid Robot Working on the Railroad
upstart writes:
Japan deploys humanoid robot for railway maintenance:
JR West to Introduce Humanoid Robot for Railroad Maintenance; Looking to Expand its Use in JapanIt resembles a malevolent robot from 1980s sci-fi but West Japan Railway's new humanoid employee was designed with nothing more sinister than a spot of painting and gardening in mind.
Starting this month, the machine with a crude head and coke-bottle eyes mounted on a truck -- which can drive on rails -- will be put to use for maintenance work on the firm's network.
Its operator sits in a cockpit on the truck, "seeing" through the robot's eyes via cameras and operating its powerful limbs and hands remotely. With a vertical reach of 12 metres (40 feet), the machine can use various attachments for its arms to carry objects as heavy as 40 kilograms (88 pounds), hold a brush to paint or use a chainsaw.
[...] The technology will help fill worker shortages in ageing Japan as well as reduce accidents such as workers falling from high places or suffering electric shocks, the company says. "In the future, we hope to use machines for all kinds of maintenance operations of our infrastructure," and this should provide a case study for how to deal with the labour shortage, company president Kazuaki Hasegawa told a recent press conference.
upstart writes:
JR West to Introduce Humanoid Robot for Railroad Maintenance; Looking to Expand its Use in Japan:
West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) will introduce a humanoid robot to handle maintenance work, such as painting emplacements along railroad tracks and cutting down fallen trees.
JR West said Thursday that it plans to put the robot into operation in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area in July.
The railroad expects to make improvements in labor and safety by using the robot to perform dangerous and laborious work at elevated positions.
Mounted on a construction vehicle, the robot will be able to work at heights of up to 12 meters with its two arms.
[...] The weight and feel of objects gripped by the robot are transmitted to the control lever, "allowing operators to move the robot as if they were doing the work themselves," JR West President Kazuaki Hasegawa said.
With the introduction of the robot, the manpower required for the work will be reduced by around 30%, according to the firm. JR West will consider expanding the number of units in use and marketing them to other companies while verifying the effectiveness of the robot.
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