Robotics

The Sino-American trade war has dampened appetites for capital spending among Chinese companies, taking a toll on earnings at manufacturers of industrial robots and machinery across the globe.

Panasonic Corp. said Thursday that it will launch a smart restaurant business in which robots serve food, in cooperation with a major Chinese restaurant chain operator.

A robot endowed with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect suspicious persons and objects will operate on a trial basis at a Tokyo train station next month.

Asics, the Japanese company behind Onitsuka Tiger sneakers, will introduce a host of robots to a plant in Japan so that it can swiftly respond to the latest consumer trends and put its footwear on store shelves faster.

Forget the flashy humanoids with their gymnastics skills: At the World Robot Summit in Tokyo, the focus was on robots that can deliver the mail, shop and build a house.

Things really do not get “more Japanese” than a robot. Whether it is the heroes and villains of manga and anime, or the Pepper you find in branches of mobile phone company SoftBank, robots seem to be everywhere here. The robots are indeed rising in Japan — and they are ready to take over the health and social care system.

Major travel agency JTB Corp. and Kyoto-based taxi firm MK Co. have teamed up to offer “Kyo no Robo Tabi Taxi,” a tour of renowned Kyoto sightseeing spots that features Robohon, a robot-shaped mobile phone from Sharp Corp.

Two elementary school boys from Gunma Prefecture will put their skills to the test in the international competition called World Robot Olympiad 2018, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in November.

Yamato Holdings Co. has reached a basic agreement with a major U.S. helicopter manufacturer to develop an unmanned “flying truck” capable of transporting goods via air, Yamato announced Friday. It aims to start commercial use of the vehicles by the mid-2020s.

Major department store chain Takashimaya Co. on Monday opened one of the nation’s biggest selling spaces for robots at its outlet in Osaka.