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National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) - 日本产业技术综合研究所

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
日本产业技术综合研究所

Research Institute

Japan's national industrial research institute; its Humanoid Research Group built the HRP biped series, including the 101 kg HRP-5P for heavy construction work.

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Company Overview

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is Japan's national public research organisation for industrial technology. It took its present form in April 2001, when it was reorganised as an incorporated administrative agency, and its origins go back to the Geological Survey of Japan, founded in 1882. AIST has a Tokyo headquarters at 1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, and its main research campus in Tsukuba, Ibaraki (AIST Tsukuba Central, 1-1-1 Umezono). Its research spans energy and environment, life science and biotechnology, information and human engineering, materials and chemistry, electronics and manufacturing, geological survey and metrology (it hosts the National Metrology Institute of Japan). Robotics is one part of that portfolio, and it has produced some of Japan's best-known humanoids.

HRP humanoid series. AIST's Humanoid Research Group, in what was the Intelligent Systems Research Institute, developed the HRP (Humanoid Robotics Project) bipeds. HRP-2 showed biped walking, lying down and getting up, and walking on narrow paths. HRP-3 walked on slippery surfaces and tightened bolts remotely on bridges. A revised HRP-2 for disaster response had longer limbs, a wider range of motion and stronger joints. HRP-4 followed as a later member of the family. HRP-5P, announced in September 2018 and developed by a team led by Fumio Kanehiro with Kenji Kaneko and Takeshi Sakaguchi, is a prototype for autonomous heavy labour on building sites, in aircraft facilities and in shipyards. It is 182 cm tall, weighs 101 kg and has 37 degrees of freedom (2 neck, 3 waist, 8 per arm, 6 per leg, 2 hands). High-output motors, cooled drive mechanisms and multi-motor joints give it on average about twice the joint torque and speed of the revised HRP-2, and each arm can hold 2.9 kg fully outstretched (versus 1.3 kg for revised HRP-2 and 0.9 kg for HRP-4). Using both arms it handles gypsum boards of about 11 kg and plywood panels of about 13 kg, and it was shown fitting gypsum board as a typical construction task. Its software, about 250,000 lines, was regression-tested for 24 hours in a virtual environment built on the Choreonoid robot simulator.

Other robotics work. AIST has run humanoid research jointly with France's CNRS, developed assistive robotics such as an autonomous wheelchair with a service robot arm, operated a Robot Safety Center for safety assessment and verification of service robots, and developed PARO, a seal-shaped therapeutic robot used in elder care.

As a public research agency, AIST is funded mainly by the Japanese government, supplemented by contract research with industry. RobotToday lists it in the humanoid landscape as a research centre for bipedal humanoids.

Capabilities & Activities

Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:

Applications & Industries

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Products & Solutions

HRP-5P humanoid robot prototype

Biped humanoid prototype for heavy labour on building sites that lifts and fits 11 kg gypsum boards and handles 13 kg plywood panels with both arms.

HRP-2 humanoid robot (revised disaster-response version)

Earlier AIST biped humanoid able to walk on narrow paths and lie down and get up; a revised disaster-response version had longer limbs and stronger joints.

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Contact National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

WEBSITE

https://www.aist.go.jp

HEADQUARTERS

1-1-1 Umezono, AIST Tsukuba Central
1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
Tsukuba , Ibaraki  305-8568

Japan

Company Facts

Founded

2001

Primary Role

Research Institute

Company Size

-

Primary Region

Asia-Pacific

Annual Sales

-

Funding Stage

Grant / Non-profit

Funding Total

-

Keywords

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