Here’s the official presentation. Skip to 7 minutes in to see the robot in action.
Video swiped from
It was developed by Jinki Ittai (Man-Machine Synergy Effectors Co., Ltd.), which was set up in 2007 by Dr. Katsuya Kanaoka, a robotics reseracher at Ritsumeikan University in Kusatsu city. JR West bought into the company in May 2020 and in April 2021 the announced the start of development of the Zero Type Human Machine, a “general-purpose humanoid heavy machinery for high-altitude heavy work in the railway field”, which was based on their prototype “PF06 Spatial Heavy Work Human Machine Social Implementation Platform”. This would co-developed with JR West and Nippon Electric Signal Co. (the ‘Nesco’ branding seen on the machine), who also bacame a shareholder in October 2022.
The first prototype, Zero Type Human Machine V2.0, started testing in April 2022 on JR West’s Kusatsu Training Line (which is where the earlier video comes from). In November 2023, the second prototype Zero Type 2 Human Machine V1.0 was unvelied (whichis the one doing the rounds in today’s news). They also announced another derivative of the Zero Type Human Machine that was being developed with Takenaka Civil Engineering Co., Ltd. and Tohoku Electric Power Network Co., Ltd for working on overhead power distribution networks.
It’s an example of what happens when a generation of kids who grew up watching ‘giant mecha’ anime like Macross, Gundam and Evangelion grow up to be scientists and engineers.
