Japanese conglomerates Fuji Heavy Industries, Sumitomo and Subaru are developing a new robot [JP, PDF] that’s able to clean office buildings autonomously. The yet to be named robot (pictured on the left) is sized at just 50×45x80cm, meaning it’s able to maneuver even along narrow paths. Its functions include vacuuming the floors and picking up garbage.

A research group from Japan’s University of Electro-Communications has developed a mini robot that’s able to move freely inside water and gas pipes with a diameter of 10cm or more. The robot can climb up and down pipes as long as they are made of iron as it uses a magnet for its magic.

As a huge conglomerate, NEC is active in a lot of areas. But unknown to many people outside Japan, the company is quite aggressive in the robotics field, too. Their PaPeRo, a cute helper robot, for example, has been around since 1997 already. And now, just in time for a robot exhibition that currently takes place in Tokyo, the company shows an updated version of the little guy.

Tokyo-based (and globalized) bearing supplier NSK has announced [JP] the development of an autonomous mobile robot that one day will be able to assist people in wheel chairs. The main selling point of the so-called “Human Assist Guidance Robot” is that it can detect obstacles and guide users through them. And uneven surfaces or slopes aren’t a problem either.

Meet AIDA, the Affective Intelligent Driving Assistant. This is a prototype robot that utilizes sensors inside and outside the car to create “a platform comprising of a personal robot and an intelligent navigation system that aims to bring an innovative driving experience.” I don’t own an automobile, so practically every driving experience is innovative to me right now! Rather than traditional destination-oriented GPS navigation, AIDA posits “a navigation system that mimics the friendly expertise of a driving companion who is familiar with both the driver and the city.” Hopefully AIDA won’t complain about my driving the way all my friends do. Video and more inside!

The Future University (cool name) in Hakodate, Northern Japan, presented the Ikabo, a giant squid robot at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo (that ended on Sunday). Not only is the robot tall (2.2m), cute and pretty heavy (weight: 200kg), but it also mimics your hand movements via Wii motion controllers.

Japan has produced many humanoids in the past years, but making them move in one way or the other is usually a challenge. Kyoto-based Robo Garage has unveiled Ropid [JP] today, a mini robot that runs on two legs and can jump as high as 8cm.

Robots now enter the agriculture industry, too. First the award-winning rice-transplanting robot, now this: Major Japanese conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries has developed an agricultural robot that can tend fields autonomously.

Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has showcased its most spectacular robot at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo today, the “cybernetic human” HRP-4C. The humanoid can’t move her legs, but the way she moves her arms, head and facial muscles is unbelievably human-like. Or you could say unbelievably creepy.

First the dish washing robot, then an assist cart robot: It was a big day for Panasonic’s robot division. This cart robo, a one-seater, is specifically designed for use in hospitals and nursing homes where it’s supposed to move medical equipment and things like wheelchairs.

We have reported about a number of household robots from Japan in the past. Those machines covered areas like preparing sushi or pancakes, cleaning the house or the toilet. Last December, we reported about a kitchen robot that’s able to do your dishes without breaking them. And today, Panasonic showcased an updated version of that very robot in Tokyo.

No pictures for this yet, but after conquering nursing homes, schools and hospitals, Japan’s robots are finally ready to get into office spaces, too. Fujitsu’s new and yet to be named gofer robot is an all-round talent, designed to be used mainly during office hours. It can move among the staff and actually gets work done as well.

Japan-based Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and robot venture Vstone have announced the joint development of a mini humanoid [JP] that’s able to handle objects dexterously through a remote control. The so-called Robovie-PC is already on sale in Japan and costs $4,500.

The so-called Fukitorimushi (”wipe-up bug” in Japanese), a cleaning robot of a very special kind, has been around for quite a while now. But what was showcased recently during a tech exhibition in Tokyo was the newest version. And the thing is still creepy as hell.

Way back in March I wrote about the HRP-4C robot that walks and talks. At CEATEC today I saw this thing in person. And now it sings! Watch the video!

Another week, another healthcare robot coming put of Japan (and this is generally a good thing). This new model, named Taizou [JP], is developed by the country’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and was unveiled today. Its purpose is to motivate the elderly to exercise more in order to prevent diseases and stay young mentally.

Japan is the nation of robots. Everybody knows that. It’s also the nation of cell phones. So why not mix robots and cell phones? That’s what the country’s second biggest mobile phone provider KDDI au thought and today presents the iida Polaris, a robotic cell phone [link in English], for the first time (click here for my iida concept photo report from April).

One of the fields in which robotics really makes sense is healthcare, where Japan is certainly the most productive country. And now we get another healthcare robot, created by a company called Japan Logic Machine.

The second robot coming out of Japan today is pretty cool, too, even though it’s not as useful as the first: Phasma is its name, and it’s an insect-like mini robot that sports six legs and can be remote-controlled. Developed by a Tokyo-based design and engineering company called takram, Phasma’s main purpose is to imitate an insect’s movements.