AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)
AIST led Japan's national Humanoid Robotics Project and developed the HRP series with Kawada, from HRP-2 in 2003 to the construction-oriented HRP-5P in 2018.
- Type
- research institute
- Headquarters
- Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- Founded
- 2001
- Founders
- n/a
- Status
- active
- Employees (est.)
- 2949
- Disclosed funding
- n/d
- Valuation
- n/d
- Listed
- private
- Website
- aist.go.jp
What the record says.
AIST is Japan's national applied-research organisation. It took its present form in 2001, when older industrial laboratories (with roots going back to 1882) were merged into one Independent Administrative Institution under METI. Its head office is in Tokyo, but most of its staff work in Tsukuba Science City. Wikipedia gives a headcount of 2,949 as of April 2012, of whom 2,288 were researchers.
AIST's humanoid work grew out of the Humanoid Robotics Project that METI and NEDO funded from 1998 to 2003. The manufacturing partner was Kawada Industries, later spun into Kawada Robotics. HRP-2 (2002 to 2003, 154 cm, 58 kg, 30 degrees of freedom, list price JPY 26 million) became a standard research platform for a decade and was known for being able to get up after a fall. HRP-3 followed in 2007, HRP-4 in 2010, and HRP-4C in 2009, a 158 cm woman-shaped robot that walked and sang with Vocaloid.
The last major machine was HRP-5P, demonstrated in November 2018 fixing gypsum board to a wall at a mock construction site: 182 cm, 101 kg, 37 degrees of freedom. AIST described it as a research platform for construction, aircraft and shipbuilding labour, not a product. No commercial successor has appeared; the series is a government-funded research lineage, not a shipped product.
5 humanoids tracked.
HRP-2 Promet
HRP-2, designed with Kawada Industries and styled by anime designer Yutaka Izubuchi, was the workhorse humanoid of the Japanese Humanoid Robotics Project and of labs such as LAAS-CNRS.
HRP-3 Promet Mk-II
HRP-3 extended the HRP line with weather resistance and tool use, targeting construction and outdoor tasks.
HRP-4
HRP-4 was a lightweight 39 kg humanoid developed by AIST and Kawada as an affordable research platform.
HRP-4C Miim
HRP-4C, nicknamed Miim, was built by AIST with the average proportions of a young Japanese woman and became known for singing and catwalk demonstrations.
HRP-5P
HRP-5P is AIST's construction-oriented humanoid that demonstrated autonomous drywall installation in 2018, aimed at labour shortages in Japanese building sites.
Milestones.
AIST unveils HRP-4C, a humanoid modelled on a young Japanese woman
HRP-4C is 158 cm and 43 kg with a realistic face, and was designed for entertainment and fashion shows. It walks a catwalk at Tokyo fashion week and later sings using Vocaloid software.
AIST and Kawada complete HRP-2
HRP-2, a 154 cm, 58 kg humanoid designed with mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi, can lie down and stand back up, walk on uneven ground and cooperate with humans in carrying panels. It becomes a standard research platform in Japan and France.
Japan launches the Humanoid Robotics Project (HRP)
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry funds the five year Humanoid Robotics Project, run by AIST with Kawada Industries and Honda. It produces HRP-1 (a modified Honda P3) and the HRP-2 platform.
AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) is covered in these 2 articles
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