In Japan, due to a labor shortage, robots are currently taking on jobs that are otherwise done by humans. In some areas this should be standard in the future.
The rapidly aging high-tech country Japan is driving the development of robots in the face of increasing labor shortages.
In Tokyo’s Otemachi banking district, a bulky robot on wheels was used as a test, which can deliver food from restaurants to employees in high-rise office buildings, as the newspaper “Sankei Shimbun” reported. As soon as waiters have placed an order received via a smartphone app on the transport robot, it drives off and brings the dish to the employee’s office. For this purpose, elevators and security doors are electronically connected to the robot. Sensors on the robot prevent it from colliding with people and objects.
Robots can be used in many ways
Cleaning services are also to be carried out by such robots in the future. In the experiment in Otemachi, a “robot-friendly” environment was created for this purpose by networking buildings and facilities in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) and the participation of the Japanese robot manufacturers Panasonic and NEC as well as the companies Hitachi and Sky Farm . This should enable smooth use of such service robots. Although there are already robots in some office buildings, the simultaneous use of several such automatic service providers sometimes still causes problems.
Up until now, cleaning robots often had to be taken to other floors by hand using the elevator. So that this is no longer necessary, a mechanism was developed that connects robots with elevators, regardless of the respective manufacturer. The ministry plans to use such robots at certain train stations, hospitals and shopping malls by next year, it said.
Japanese labor market of the future
Although Japan, like Germany, is confronted with a rapid aging of its society, the number three in the world economy, unlike Germany, does not pursue an active immigration policy. It would be better to let older people work longer, integrate more women into the labor market – and, above all, push ahead with the automation of the economy at full speed. Japan is already the world leader in automation in the construction industry. Even self-driving trucks or robots as helpers in the care sector are no longer visions of the future in Japan.
Source From: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
