Japan Airport Terminal Co. has unveiled seven robots, which will be trialled at Haneda Airport to help simplify the airport experience, particularly for foreign passengers.

The line-up of robots can perform a variety of tasks, ranging from helping to transport luggage to providing assistance with language translation.

“Cinnamon”, for instance, can converse with passengers through its built-in artificial intelligence system and provide directions to various points within the terminal.

The seven robots will be trialled in the airport environment from 9 January 2018. The robots cover three categories: security, translation and logistics/baggage transportation.

The trials follow the recent launch of the 2017 Robot Experiment Project led by Haneda Robotics Lab, which is a central element of Japan Airport Terminal Co.’s efforts to accelerate the introduction of robots to Haneda Airport.

With Japan facing a labour shortage due to an ageing population, the country is investing in robotics to provide assistance. The airport operator has said that it hopes to have robots in place across Haneda Airport by 2020, when an influx of visitors is expected for the Tokyo Olympics.

source: https://tinyurl.com/y8cewfd9

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Part of Circular Route No. 8, where a large-scale self-driving car feasibility test is planned, is shown in this photo taken on Jan. 23, with Haneda Airport’s international terminal visible in the rear left.

Haneda Robotics Lab will be launching the Haneda Airport “Robot Experiment Project 2016” aimed at the accelerated implementation of robot at Haneda Airport. The project will recruit robot technologies focusing on specialised areas to be implemented experimentally inside the airport.

The aim of the project is to allow a variety of businesses and research organisations to perform effective testing and data gathering within the airport environment. Haneda Airport hopes that this project will help to promote the efficient development of robot technology.

As the airport heads for 2020, there is a general requirement for the further improvement of services and customer satisfaction throughout Japan, and Haneda Airport believes that the use of robot technology will be essential in the future. Therefore, the airport has established the Haneda Robotics Labs as part of the Japanese government’s Reform 2020 project, in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as well as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The airport intends to provide opportunities for robot developers to do user tasting, and encourage airport users to feel familiar with robots.

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Formally known as Tokyo International Airport, is located less than 30 minutes south of central Tokyo, considerably closer to the city center than Narita Airport, Tokyo’s other airport. Compared to Narita Airport, Haneda Airport handles way more domestic flights, but fewer international flights. With over 60 million passengers per year overall, Haneda Airport is by far Japan’s busiest airport and ranks among the world’s five busiest airports.

Haneda Airport was opened in 1931. In 1978, the then newly constructed Narita Airport took over most of Tokyo’s international air traffic, while Haneda Airport was designated to handle the capital’s domestic air traffic. Haneda Airport resumed handling an increased number of international flights in 2010 with the completion of a new runway and a new international terminal building; however, most international flights (except those to nearby Asian destinations) were banned to often inconvenient early morning and late evening slots.

During the trials through December in the domestic Terminal 2 at the airport, the robot will communicate with passengers in Japanese and English at a designated information centre and display relevant information.

The Japanese industrial conglomerate is hoping to enable the 90-centimetre tall humanoid robot with autonomous capabilities to guide users to destinations starting around December.

At a demonstration on Friday, a female foreign passenger asked EMIEW3 for directions to a foreign exchange counter. The humanoid robot at the information centre called another EMIEW3 robot to take her to the shop. “Please follow me,” the robot said.

Since the introduction of EMIEW in 2005, Hitachi has been improving its capabilities. The newest EMIEW3 with a “remote brain” that can process images and voices was unveiled in April. Multiple robots can be linked with the use of a remote operation system, according to Hitachi.

“We are hoping to use EMIEW3 to assist efforts to extend hospitality at Haneda airport through our trial runs,” said Hiroshi Sato, senior vice president and executive officer at Hitachi.

A recent increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan has raised the need for a variety of services, Sato said, expressing hope to increase the number of EMIEW3 languages available to include Chinese and Korean.

source: http://tinyurl.com/zde9fgm