• TEPCO Collected Melted Fuel Sample from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

    Penetration from the robotic telescope. (Image Credit: TEPCO ) Telesco, a remote-controlled extendable robot, recently retrieved a small amount of melted fuel from a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. According to the Tokyo Electric…

  • Japanese Government Retires the Floppy Disk

    Last month, the Japanese Digital Agency scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing floppy disk use, except for one that applies to vehicle recycling. (Image credit: Wikipedia ) It's almost the end of floppy disk use in the industrial world. The Japanese…

  • Japan Proposes an Underground Transportation System to Deliver Cargo

    (Image Credit: Tama66/ pixabay ) The Japanese Transport and Tourism Ministry is planning to develop a huge 310-mile automated underground conveyor belt, called the Autoflow-Road , transporting packages from Tokyo to Osaka. Japan hopes this will address…

  • Monster Wolf Blasts Loud Noises and Flashes Its Lights to Scare Off Animals

    The Monster Wolf scares away any unwanted creatures from farmlands and other human territories. (Image Credit: Wolf Kamuy) This should be a regular Halloween yard decoration. Japan has come up with a clever way to keep predators at bay from its landscapes…

  • Japanese Scientists Are Developing a Durable Robotic Gripper

    ROSE can pick up all sorts of objects, even if the sleeve is damaged. (Image Credit: JSAID) Robots must be more careful while grasping brittle objects to avoid damaging them, and one way to do that involves a special gripper integration. JSAIT researchers…

  • Researchers Develop a Mechanical Robot with Live Grippers

    The pill bug acts as an end effector on the mechanical robot’s arm. (Image Credit: Tadakuma Mechanism Group, Tohoku University) Animal abuse for science never ends , as I drew in cartoon over 10 years ago. What happened to biomimicry? You may not like…

  • Researchers enhance acoustic tweezers to lift and manipulate small objects

    The researchers improved their acoustic tweezers, making them lift particles while achieving stability. (Image Credit: Tokyo Metropolitan University/ YouTube ) Sound waves are capable of exerting a physical force, especially when someone stands beside…

  • Humanoid robots start to make an appearance in construction sites

    These massive transformer-like robots are being deployed in Japan to help perform various construction tasks. (Image Credit: JR West) Is this the start of the end of traditional construction? The well-known Transformers franchise has inspired and…

  • Japanese researchers propose an artificial gravity structure on the moon

    Japan’s proposed artificial gravity structure generates centrifugal force to generate artificial gravity on the moon. (Image Credit: Kajima Corporation) Everyone is anticipating return-to-the-moon missions, and now, Japan wants to make a big impact…

  • Skeletonics demonstrated the Arrive, a 3-meter-tall exoskeleton suit

    Skeletonics unveiled its latest suit, the Arrive, which relies on a user's kinetic energy to operate. (Image Credit: Skeletonics) Like something out of a science fiction story. Skeletonics , a Japanese company that develops exoskeletons, recently…

  • Japanese researchers develop a new type of concrete

    This image shows two calcium carbonate concrete samples. The left sample uses hardened cement paste, while the right sample uses silica sand. (Image Credit: Maruyama et al.) Researchers at the University of Tokyo produced a new concrete called calcium…

  • This musical robot performs well-known compositions on a set of calculators

    A-HOGE, a music robot developed by @goto_statement, performs melodies on a set of calculators. (Image Credit: @goto_statement) This fun project had me thinking I should have explored the idea of music creation with my "Scary Tapping" project here at element14…

  • Tokyo’s Dawn Robot Cafe offers job opportunities for the disabled

    Dawn’s Robot Cafe in Tokyo provides people with mental and physical disabilities with job opportunities by allowing them to operate a robot waiter from home. (Image Credit: Dawn Avatar Robot Cafe) As part of a pilot program in inclusive employment, Michio…

  • The fold-able Japanese car: 'Earth-1'

    A Japanese company, Four Link, has created a car that "folds." It's called the Earth-1, and it can contort itself to fit into narrow spaces.
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  • ‘Flying car’ prototype demonstration by NEC [RAW VIDEO]

    Members of the media are given a demonstration of NEC’s prototype “flying car” during a press event on Aug. 5, 2019. Read more: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/05/business/car-plane-no-necs-personal-quadcopter/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE C...
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  • Gundam robot Yokohama, Japan walk testing! #gundam #robot #robotics

    Update !! *** Full motion testing of the robot: https://youtu.be/UQ887fCkE2o **** Gundam factory website : https://gundam-factory.net/en/ Details on the robot. Standing 60 feet tall (18 meters) 24 degrees of freedom Weight of about 25 tons Fully a...
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  • Design, Modeling and Control of Aerial Robot DRAGON

    “Design, Modeling and Control of Aerial Robot DRAGON: Dual-Rotor Embedded Multilink Robot with the Ability of Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Aerial Transformation,” by Moju Zhao, Tomoki Anzai, Fan Shi, Xiangyu Chen, Kei Okada, and Masayuki Inaba from The...
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  • Building the World’s Largest Robot

    Inspired by “Mobile Suit Gundam,” one of the most popular anime series in Japan, engineer Masaaki Nagumo began building his very own larger-than-life robots. Each is fully operational and can be controlled by the user from within. His latest creat...
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  • SpaceX capsule with 4 crew reaches Space Station

    Four new crew members, three Americans and one from Japan, boarded the International Space Station Tuesday after arriving there on board SpaceX’s newly launched capsule. Their automated flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center took 27 hours. (Nov. ...
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  • JAXA is launching a transformative robot ball to the moon - codeveloped by toy maker TOMY

    The transformer robot is expected to collect data on the lunar surface to determine how the regolith affects the crewed pressurized rover’s driving performance. (Image Credit: JAXA/TOMY Company/Sony/Doshisha University) Transformers on the Moon? Wasn…

  • Take a walk with your pet fish? See the Katsugyo Bag

    MA Corporation developed the bag to allow pet owners to walk their fish and keep fish fresh for consumption. (Image Credit: MA Corporation/Instagram) Have you ever taken your fish for a walk? Ever wanted to? Well, you may be able to soon! MA Corporation…

  • This Arque wearable robotic tail can help maintain your balance

    The Arque tail enhances the wearer’s balance and can be used to help the elderly keep their balance. (Image Credit: Yamen Saraiji ) Long ago, humans possibly sported tails that didn’t have many purposes, but they eventually lost their tails due to evolution…

  • Japanese researchers are developing wooden satellites to help curb space junk

    Wooden satellites could help curb space junk currently orbiting around Earth. (Image Credit: Sumitomo Forestry) I love this effort. The Earth’s orbit is littered with thousands of satellites. This becomes an issue when they are no longer operable and…

  • Japanese town deploys two robot wolves to prevent bear attacks

    The monster wolf robot was installed in Takikawa, Japan, in an attempt to prevent bear attacks. Each robot is outfitted with motion detectors. Once triggered, it emits 60 sounds, moves its head, and flashes its eyes. (Image Credit: KYODO/Reuters) A Japanese…

  • Japan to come up with decision on releasing Fukushima wastewater into the ocean

    The Japanese government is expected to make a decision on disposing of the wastewater from the storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (Image Credit: Reuters) Japanese fish industry representatives recently opposed releasing Fukushima…