West Japan Railways (West JR), one of six companies that make up Japan Railways Group, has unveiled a giant “humanoid robot” to work on heavy machinery on its lines. The as yet unnamed tool is described as “multifunctional railway heavy machinery for railway equipment maintenance” and is based off a prototype used by West JR to prove the concept of the odd-looking machine.
The new robot has been developed in partnership with Jinki Ittai Co, a robotics technology developer, and Nippon Signal Co, an IT and electricals in infrastructure firm.
West JR said the project was needed due to “a labour shortage in infrastructure maintenance work, not just for railways”. The new “heavy equipment” is carried by a railway construction vehicle, which hosts the control room, with the robot on an extendable boom.
Continue to full article: Japanese railway introduces infrastructure robot