Introduction of cleaning robot and medical robot. “Next maybe robot for agriculture” (CEO of CYBERDYNE, INC.)

News paper article was written by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun. Trial translation was conducted by CYBERDYNE, INC. For the link to the original article, please follow the link below.
https://newswitch.jp/p/12508

CYBERDYNE, INC. (the “Company”) is expanding its range of products. In October 2017, the Company started selling of HAL Lumbar Type for Independent Living (tentative name), which was designed for care receivers. In March 2018, the Company started selling of the new Cleaning Robot, capable of moving faster with autonomous navigation, compared to its precedent model. The Company also plans to introduce Vital Sensor to the market, which could detect arrhythmia and hardening of arteries. Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, one of the leading industrial news papers in Japan, asked Yoshiyuki Sankai, CEO of the Company, the intention behind releasing various products to the market.

– The Company has released number of new products recently.

The Company is no longer in the phase of converting the results of basic researches into actual products and disseminating it to the society. Its next mission is to turn “Cybernic Technologies” that combine and fuse human, robots and information into an industry and expand that to a global scale. Each product is designed for a different purpose. However, a sensor installed in each product gathers information. As devices are connected by the network, various types of quality data can be collected. The Company would like to analyze these data so it could utilize them for new services that could help the society or further improve functions of each product.

– What is the role of each product?

Cleaning Robot and Transportation Robot can complete their task while they comprehend the situation in the building at the same time. If they detect a situation that is different from the usual state, they could share it with the security staff or the manager of the building. HAL series devices and Vital Sensor are capable of obtaining the vital information. Especially, when Vital Sensor is available in workplaces or at home, daily vital information can be gathered at high frequency.

A user of Vital Sensor will not have to keep the device on like wearable devices. As long as it is used at a certain frequency, lots of information could be sensed and obtained. Management of health is especially important in our aging society and in the society data obtained from each product will become important. If the communication function is improved, utilization of data will become easier. The analyzed results of data could be used to settle matters appropriately or provide feedbacks to devices. It could also be utilized for cross-boarder problem solution or expansion of services.

– The Company has expanded the variation of HAL

Lumbar Type for Independent Living can be used to maintain and improve the function of the care receiver in his/her body trunk or the lower limb. It could help him/her to stand up and sit down without the caregiver’s assistance, leading to the improvement of his/her quality of life. This will also reduce the burden on the caregiver as well. The Company will expand the size variation of each type of HAL and will also make some of these devices into medical products.

People sometimes ask us “Isn’t it faster to work on a non-medical device rather than a medical one?” A medical device has a higher requirement of quality, function and safety. The Company will experience difficulty to meet this. However, once the Company can create such the device at a medical level, it can spread diverted products faster in the field of non-medical devices. It will also help the enhancement of human resources not only in R & D but also sales and various other teams.

– Are there any fields that the Company would like to challenge?

Various field are affected by shortage of human resources due to aging society and declining birthrate. When I look at agriculture, for example, process to farm crops like rice and grain are gradually mechanized and automated. However for fruits picking, a lot of processes are still done by human hands. In anticipation of the arrival of “Society 5.0” where all human and things are connected by the network, I think, agriculture is a field that the Company could contribute, utilizing its technology.