FNR: Toward a Platform Based Humanoid Project

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan(MITI) has several programs for national projects. In a program, MITI so far promoted one national project in robotics area, which was called ”Advanced Robotics”. The objectives were to research on the technologies for the robots which can work at unstructured environments. Major robotic application areas considered in the project were relating to nuclear power plant maintenance, undersea oil plant maintenance and fire fighting and rescue operations. The project was carried out from 1982 to 1990. The budget spent during the period was about 180 billion yen. 17 companies, 2 nonprofit organizations, and 2 MITF’s national laboratories (Mechanical Engineering Laboratory and Electrotechnical Laboratory) worked in the project[1]. After the end of the project, MITI did not have robotics projects promoted till now. However, three years ago, MITI started the first action for preparing for a new robotics project, considering what kinds of technology our society needs and also new advancement of the technologies.