Approaches to Robotics in the United States and Japan: Report of a Bilateral Exchange (1990)

Summary: Growing consumer demand for individualized products is forcing many manufacturers to shift to smaller production runs of greater varieties of products, a move that relies on highly flexible factory automation systems; for robots this means higher-level intelligence. Further development of robotics technology holds the promise of robots capable of working in less structured environments—outdoors and in the home. U.S.-Japanese collaboration could both fill technology gaps and yield important cultural benefits in the form of knowledge of how to better set up and manage collaboration within our respective economies and improved understanding of each other's R&D systems. is report relates past experience, suggests areas of cooperative effort and criteria for evaluation, and discusses existing and needed frameworks for supporting collaborative efforts. It will be the challenge of the governments and industrialists of the United States and Japan to frame additional questions and to initiate steps toward realizing the next generation of robots.