Mitsubishi is joining the rapidly growing ranks of robot builders, with plans to build up to 1,000 of its Highlanders humanoid robots per month at one of the automaker’s ICE engine plants in Kyoto – and if the plan comes together, the automaker could begin mass-producing its new worker-bots as early as next year.
While the normals probably think of Mitsubishi as primarily an also-ran automaker, the company is recognized as a global leader in the automation and controls space – and it’s into that space that the company is planning to inject thousands of new industrial robots.
The humanoids, co-developed by Mitsubishi and Highlanders, a new startup from the University of Tokyo, will explore the development of the humanoid robots for use at Mitsubishi’s manufacturing facilities first, even putting them to work making themselves at the company’s former Kyoto engine plant according to a memo of understanding (MOU) signed by the two companies last month.
“Our collaboration with Highlanders represents a challenge aimed at building a new industrial foundation in which humans and robots work together,” explains Takao Kato, chairman of the board and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors. “At the same time, it provides Mitsubishi Motors with a valuable opportunity to deepen our technological and business expertise in the field of humanoid robotics. By utilizing humanoid robots in our own manufacturing facilities and supporting the production of Highlanders products, we aim to leverage the outcomes of this collaboration to drive our growth and enhance corporate value.”
The robots are everywhere
In addition to being closely related to the electric vehicle space – from battery tech, servo/motor tech, automation tech, AI tech, etc. – the humanoid robot space features a lot of the same players, too. The difference is that, while companies like Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Tesla were taking very different approaches to early EVs with the iMiEV, LEAF, and Model S, respectively, there isn’t that much variety in the humanoid robot space.
They’re all trying to build basically the same thing, in other words. And, once you get past the hype and hyperbole, some of them (cough, Hyundai, cough) are clearly ahead of others.
Mitsubishi Highlanders’ flagship humanoid platform, dubbed “HL Human,” features a “19-degree-of-freedom” (DOF) body equipped with high-output electric actuators that the company claims enable human-like movement. The robot is designed to autonomously perform complex industrial tasks using AI-powered perception, motion planning, and natural-language interaction with its human co-workers, who will help train it to do practical work in manufacturing, logistics, construction, and disaster response fields where labor shortages are becoming increasingly severe.
Cue the commenters who think “just pay people more” would (or even should) convince more people to rush into radioactive spaces and volunteer to get black lung.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Mitsubishi Motors, Interesting Engineering.
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