Tokyo: The inventor of the PlayStation gaming console, Ken Kutaragi, is taking on one of the hardest jobs in robotics. And he’s not getting paid for what he is doing.
Kutaragi, wants to make affordable robots that can safely move around and do physical work alongside humans in factories and logistics centers, and aims to have a working prototype in about a year. He said he receives no salary to save capital. “The Covid-19 outbreak has turned the old argument about robots taking our jobs on its head,” Kutaragi said. “It’s pretty clear now that if we want to arrive at a new normal, we need more and more robots in our daily lives.”
The challenge is that he is trying to combine two technologies that have so far over-promised and under-delivered: autonomous driving and collaborative robots. The world’s biggest industrial automation companies including Fanuc Corp., ABB Ltd. and Kuka AG have struggled to grow the market for machines that can work alongside humans. “If you are looking to combine robotics and mobility, you need someone in charge who understands technology,” he said. “We are thinking globally, not limiting our sights to Japan.”
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