TOKYO, Japan — Resembling a 1980s sci-fi antagonist, West Japan Railway’s latest humanoid addition aims to tackle tasks as benign as painting and gardening.
This month, the robot with a rudimentary head and coke-bottle eyes, mounted on a rail-capable truck, will commence maintenance duties across the railway network.
An operator controls the robot from a cockpit on the truck, using cameras to see through the robot’s eyes and maneuver its robust limbs remotely.
The robot, with a vertical reach of 12 meters (40 feet), can handle various attachments for its arms, enabling it to lift objects up to 40 kilograms (88 pounds), paint with a brush, or operate a chainsaw.
Initially, its main responsibilities will include trimming tree branches along the tracks and painting the metal frames supporting cables above the trains.
This technology addresses worker shortages in Japan’s aging population and aims to minimize accidents, such as falls from heights or electric shocks, the company explained.
“In the future, we hope to use machines for all kinds of maintenance operations of our infrastructure,” said company president Kazuaki Hasegawa at a recent press conference, emphasizing its potential as a solution to labor shortages. — Agence France-Presse