Unmanned lab opens with robots at work as researchers push AI, automation - Japan Today
10 Comments TOKYO A Tokyo-based university has opened a laboratory where robots are carrying out medical experiments once handled by human researchers as it aims to eventually automate nearly the entire research process.
Key takeaways
- The most recent headlines show a surge of activity across both industrial and consumer‑focused humanoid robotics.
- A two‑year‑old British startup, Humanoid (SKL Robotics Ltd.), has upgraded its partnership with German industrial giant Schaeffler to commit at least 1,000, and potentially many more, humanoid units for live‑manufacturing, a rollout that could reach 100,000 robots over the next five years.
- In the United States, Figure AI streamed a humanoid warehouse worker completing an eight‑hour shift without failure and extending to a 24‑hour run that processed more than 30,000 packages, underscoring the viability of long‑duration autonomous labor.
- Canadian company Sanctuary AI reiterated that fully commercial home‑use humanoids remain three to seven years away, while its sister venture 1X has begun full‑scale production of the Neo model and is already taking pre‑orders for delivery before year‑end.
- At the Robotics Summit, Texas Instruments highlighted a systems‑level roadmap for scaling smarter, safer humanoids, and announced that 1X’s NEO production is moving to a California facility.
10 Comments
TOKYO
A Tokyo-based university has opened a laboratory where robots are carrying out medical experiments once handled by human researchers as it aims to eventually automate nearly the entire research process.
The facility at the Institute of Science Tokyo's Yushima campus, known as the Robotics Innovation Center, features 10 robots, including a humanoid model called Maholo LabDroid, and no human staff.
The university plans to significantly increase the number of automatons in the long run, integrating automation systems with artificial intelligence. Highlights from the CJPF Award Ceremony
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TaiwanIsNotChina
Geeter MckluskieToday 10:12 am JST
From what I read that wasn't even an autonomous robot. And then you have to make it walk and operate the machines in all sorts of environments.
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Geeter Mckluskie
Robot floor cleaners, but not for the rest of the house cleaning.
See above
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timeon
The idea is gaining traction, and even startups researching the possibility. For those interested of a recent article on the topic from "Sakana AI":
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kurisupisu
@obladi Using two arms, the robots can perform delicate tasks such as transferring fixed amounts of reagents and opening the doors of temperature-controlled equipment to place and remove items. Cell cultivation, which has already been programmed, can also be carried out automatically.
The university plans to expand the number of robots to around 2,000 by 2040, carrying out almost all research tasks from generating hypotheses to experimental verification.
"We want to make Japan's science the best in the world," said Keiichi Nakayama, head of the center, at an opening ceremony for the facility in mid-April, citing AI and robotics as key tools to achieve that goal. Robots also joined the ribbon-cutting event.
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