Tokyo : Waseda University is promoting research that can contribute to the realization of world peace and human happiness. In order to construct a framework of an “international research university,” the university disseminates information on these activities worldwide and feeds the results back into human society.

Above all, through its robot research that has developed some of the world’s most advanced technologies on a daily basis for more than four decades, the university has gained attention as an international research center which is expected to create new culture and industry around its robot technology.

Here is an overview of some of Waseda’s robots –

TWENDY-ONE – Smoothly supporting the lives of the elderly with skillful humanlike hands and arms

Due to the low birth rate and aging population, there is an increasing need for nursing care robots to support the daily lives of the elderly. Because of this, robots are required that can handle variously shaped items around the home such as household appliances, plates, and utensils, just as humans do. TWENDY-ONE, a robot developed at the Sugano Laboratory, is equipped with compliant joint function employing springs in its arms and has fingers with adjustable pressure, enabling it to handle soft or complex shaped objects in the same way that people do. It provides help with housework and nursing care, such as helping someone to get out of bed into a wheelchair, opening a refrigerator and taking out food, or baking bread.

Safety is an important factor in nursing care robots so that they should not hurt the people even if the robots have contact and collision with them accidentally. TWENDY-ONE can follow the human motion by having a contact detection function all over its body and advanced sensing capability. The aim now is to turn this robot, the fruit of Waseda’s technology, into a commercial product within a few years.

Source :  ACN Newswire