Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
TOKYO ~ Two years ago this week explosions and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Genpatsu in northeastern Japan created this nation’s worst man-disaster. The ability to perform heavy duty repair work in the highly radioactive environs of a damaged nuclear reactor was one of the first obstacles that nuclear engineers faced at Fukushima Daiichi. To outside observers of Japan, the answer seemed simple: send in Japan vaunted robots. But the myth of Japanese robot supremacy was blown to bits by Fukushima Daiichi. Yes, Japan had talking robots, robot children, sexy fembots, robot pets and manufacturing robots, but it hadn’t produced machines mobile, powerful or agile enough to be of any use in a real world disaster scenario. So, the Japanese ate some humble pie and called Boston-based iRobot, maker of the vacuuming robot Roomba, which sent Japan its PackBot and Warrior robots which became the first robots to enter and inspect Fukushima’s Daiichi’s damaged reactors. [youtube]j7r29YxICBw[/youtube] But since Fukushima Daiichi, Japan has indeed stepped up its robotics game. Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Honda, Panasonic, and Toyota have all boosted funding and investments of their proprietary bot expertise, and the Japanese government has also increased support toward university robotics laboratories and private-public partnerships. So, if the triple meltdowns had a silver lining, it was the Japanese robotics industry’s new focus away from cute machines and toward capable ones. Akihabara News has a great article by Reno J. Tibke of how Fukushima sparked Japan’s robot renaissance. ~Rachel Roh
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That’s a lot of cars and a plenty of money to fix a window that causes a fire risk. There’s been no deaths so far, the recall is free, and it’s another blow to the giant car maker. (CNN – Recall) • 2007 to 2008 Yaris (approx. 110,300) • 2007 to 2009 RAV4 (approx. 336,400) • 2007 to 2009 Tundra (approx. 337,100) • 2007 to 2009 Camry (approx. 938,100) • 2007 to 2009 Camry Hybrid (approx. 116,800) • 2008 to 2009 Scion xD (approx. 34,400) • 2008 to 2009 Scion xB (approx. 77,500) • 2008 to 2009 Sequoia (approx. 38,500) • 2008 Highlander (approx. 135,400) • 2008 Highlander Hybrid (approx. 23,200) • 2009 Corolla (approx. 270,900) • 2009 Matrix (approx. 53,800)
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The production is going down in China falling to 40%. The staff has suspended night shifts. The bonus is for other car makers who are seeing their sales go up! Hurray for them and it does show that car sales continue in one of the largest car markets, but just not for Japanese ones. Yes, the territory dispute continues… “South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co’s China sales climbed 15 percent to 84,188 vehicles last month, while Volkswagen’s Audi boosted sales by 20 percent, BMW by 55 percent and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz by 10 percent.” (Businessinsider – Japanese Cars in China)
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Yes, in Japan a collection of expensive cars smashed on a freeway. 8 Ferraris, 1 Lamborghini, 3 Mercedes, Skyline, and Prius. A Prius? In total, over 3 million dollars in damage. This could be the most expensive crash ever, but then again, what about those wrecks in the fog where there are 200 cars involved? [youtube]BAtelRZCFWc[/youtube]
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Life is a mashup of almost anything. Mixing foods, entertainment and now technology is just a phase. Who would want this vehicle? Is it for a person who can’t push regular size buttons? It’s Toyota, and I’m sure they paid dearly for this. It does have imagery that can fill it’s body, which is neat for a second, but in the end, it’s just a fangled idea. Rather than marvel at how they mashed an iPhone and a car, why not do what we did and take an old console concept and turn that into a car. Yes, it’s yet another mashup, but at least it makes more sense. (itproportal - Concept) [youtube]0tXU3ZKpQmM[/youtube]
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