Huge body, thick mechanical arm, blue fuselage paint... How is this shape somewhat familiar? Looking more closely, in fact, this humanoid robot that looks quite Gundam style is not a mobile suit, but a repairman on the railway.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
It is a multifunctional railway heavy equipment that combines heavy equipment robots and railway construction vehicles, and was jointly developed by West Japan Railway Company, Human Machinery Co., Ltd., and Nippon Signal Co., Ltd. Both to improve productivity and safety, but also to solve the problem of insufficient labor for railway infrastructure maintenance.
This multifunctional railway heavy equipment, at the bottom is a specially supported rail car traveling around the track system, the fuselage of the humanoid robot is mounted at the end of the crane arm, and there is an operator in the driver's seat at the other end of the crane arm.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
After the operator puts on the VR headset, the camera of the robot's head will display the picture in the VR device in real time. If the operator's head changes direction, the robot's camera also turns (the camera is a bit like a Wall-E), as if the operator is in the field to observe the situation.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
In addition to the real-time synchronization of the visual picture, the actions of the operator and the robot are also linked in real time. The operator under the lifting arm can control the robot's arm to move and grasp through the handle.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
Since this is a personal robot, the movements when performing the operation are very similar to the human movements, and the weight and recoil felt by the robot will be fed back to the operator, and the intuitive operation and experience looks like a human maintenance worker working at a high altitude. This means operators can get up and running quickly and more comfortable.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
As can be seen in the demo, the robot can lift a brush like a human to maintain and clean the track. The state of grasping these tools with "hands" is quite flexible, but due to the characteristics of the robot, the speed of operation is not fast.
Although the shape has a Gundam style, this way of manipulating the robot with the help of VR linkage seems to be more like the operation of the robot warrior in Pacific Rim.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
It doesn't matter what type of robot it is, what matters is that with this humanoid robot, it is of great benefit to the maintenance of the railway. There is no need to bear the danger of climbing into the air, and the maintenance staff can also operate at height by manipulating the robot on the ground.
With machine repairmen, it is possible to handle all kinds of equipment installed at heights, and after the heavy work is mechanized, a part of the labor can be saved, which can improve efficiency.
▲Image courtesy of JR West
More importantly, the replacement of high-altitude work by robots can reduce the probability of accidents such as electric shock or collision when human maintenance personnel are working, and greatly improve the safety of work.
According to the development plan, this type of multifunctional railway heavy equipment will be tested with a prototype in April 2022 and may reach the goal of practicality and introduction on the sales line in the spring of 2024. Soon, we may see more "machine repairmen" working on Japan's railways.