SOCIAL ROBOTICS Co., Ltd.
Tokyo maker of BUDDY, a Japanese-built indoor mobile robot cart for restaurant serving and factory transport, with RFID-marker or LiDAR SLAM navigation.
SOCIAL ROBOTICS Co., Ltd. is a Japanese developer and manufacturer of autonomous mobile service robots based in Hachioji, Tokyo. It was established on 14 July 2015 with capital of JPY 14 million, and its stated aim is to build a model of robots that work in society alongside people. The company says universities and institutes including the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Shibaura Institute of Technology, the University of Electro-Communications, AIST and the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute were involved in prototyping and trials since its founding. It was selected for a Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute programme in 2015 and for Fukushima Prefecture's disaster-recovery practical development programme each year from 2016 to 2020. Its head office is inside the premises of Kikuchi Seisakusho in Miyamamachi, Hachioji; robots are produced at Kikuchi Seisakusho's Hachioji plant and its plant in Odaka-ku, Minamisoma, Fukushima, while a sales office, showroom and development base sits near Hachioji station. Shigeru Asano has been Representative Director since August 2019.
The registered business scope covers consulting, design, manufacture, sale, rental and leasing of production, daily-life and disaster-response robots, industrial robots, life-support robots and evacuation-assist machines.
BUDDY. The core product is BUDDY, an indoor general-purpose mobile robot cart that the company develops and manufactures entirely in Japan; BUDDY is its registered trademark. In restaurants it serves and clears tables, and its patented vibration-damping shelf carries a brim-full sake flask without spilling. It loads up to 30 kg, its shelves can be customised (for example four tiers or commercial shelving), it announces arrivals by voice, and it can be summoned through call buttons or QR codes via external integration. Customers choose between two navigation methods: an RFID marker trace (Japanese patent 7016495) for stable routing through aisles as narrow as 600 mm (750 mm when turning) and near glass, or a marker-free LiDAR SLAM version that uses Rtino, a stabilised ROS-based SLAM package, with LiDAR and a 3D camera. The brochure lists a climbing ability of 7-degree slopes and 10 mm steps, outdoor-capable ToF obstacle sensors with an adjustable 40 to 80 cm stopping distance, motors and batteries from major Japanese makers, an HTTP API with all endpoints published, and a web-app operating interface. Setting up a route takes about two hours per 100 square metres. A Nikkan Kogyo (Newswitch) report on the BUDDY Intruder variant gave a March 2023 launch, a price of about JPY 3.5 million before tax, three 10 kg shelves, 2 to 3 hours charging for about 10 hours of operation, LiDAR, 3D camera and SLAM navigation, and a target of 300 units a year.
Deployments. The company's case-study page reports BUDDY units in a bread factory shuttling 30 m outdoors on a slope between factory and shop (two units, July 2022), in glass and assembly plants moving empty cartons around 180 round trips a day, in stationery, food and electronic-component factories moving parts and finished cartons, between a factory and an office, in karaoke venues with electronically locked drawers for room delivery, in shabu-shabu, soba, buffet and tonkatsu restaurants, and on stage at an awards event as a telepresence stand-in. It has also shown a disinfectant-spraying robot at a hotel. Exhibitions include the International Hotel and Restaurant Show on the Hoshizaki booth (2020), Robot Week (2022), the Fukushima aerospace robot festival (2022), Food Tech Japan (2021 and 2022) and ROBODEX on the NTT East booth (2023). It also offers custom builds for system integrators. Contact: [email protected].
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
BUDDY
Japanese-built indoor mobile robot cart for serving, clearing and in-plant transport; 30 kg payload, damped shelves, RFID-marker or LiDAR SLAM navigation, open HTTP API.
BUDDY Intruder
BUDDY variant for restaurant serving and clearing with three 10 kg shelves and marker-free LiDAR, 3D camera and SLAM navigation by table number.
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Contact SOCIAL ROBOTICS Co., Ltd.
WEBSITE
https://social-robotics-japan.comPHONE
+81 50-5577-6425HEADQUARTERS
Japan
Company Facts
Founded
2015
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
Asia-Pacific
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Subsidiary / Acquired
Funding Total
-
Keywords
- SOCIAL ROBOTICS Co.
- Ltd.
- Social Robotics
- ソーシャルロボティクス
- BUDDY robot
- serving robot
- indoor delivery robot cart
- RFID marker navigation
- LiDAR SLAM
- Rtino
- vibration-damping tray
- factory transport robot
- Kikuchi Seisakusho
- Manufacturer
- Commercial Service Robot
- Mobile Robot (AGV/AMR)
- Retail & Hospitality
- Manufacturing
- Logistics & Supply Chain
- Food Service
