Information Technology and Electronics

Intelligent Systems Research Institute

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), led by President Nomakuchi, is a public research institution funded by Japanese government to a large extent. The present AIST is a rather new research organization established in 2001. However, AIST and its predecessor organizations have been contributing to society through continuous advancement in technologies and support of Japanese industries since 1882.

Headquarters of AIST are located in Tsukuba and Tokyo. AIST has over 40 autonomous research units in various innovative research fields, and the units are located at nine research bases and several sites (smaller than research bases) of AIST all over Japan. About 2400 researchers (about 2100 with tenure: about 80 from abroad) and thousands of visiting scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and students from home and abroad are working at AIST. About 700 permanent administrative personnel and many temporary staff support research works of AIST.

The management policy of Intelligent Systems Research Institute is to promote fundamental long-term research whose outcomes for the society have been examined by thorough investigations. The institute studies intelligent systems technologies that are defined by smart information processing and robotics to assist human behaviors, and seeks their basic principles, elemental technologies and system architectures to contribute the realization of the sustainable society and the creation of novel industries.

The institute focuses on risk management technologies for personal care robots and the development tools for dependable software for the robots during the third phase of AIST between 2010fy and 2014fy. The projects of the institute are shown as follows.

Mission
1.Green Innovation 2-(1)-5 Autonomous Navigation of Mobile Robots in a City The goal is to realize a mobile robot with/without a passenger that is able to move autonomously in the center of a city to contribute the realization of a compact city in which the energy consumption for the transportation can be saved significantly.
2.Life Innovation 3-(2)-1 Risk Management Technologies for the safety assessment of Robots The goal is to develop the technologies for the tests and evaluation of the safety of personal care robots to determine the international standards of functional safety for the robots. 3-(2)-2 Development Tools for Dependable Software for Robots The goal is to realize the development process and tools of dependable software of robots that are able to be approved for satisfying the international standards of the functional safety.
3.Advanced Technologies 1-(1)-1 Smart Industrial Robots for Efficient Manufacturing The goal is to develop software tools for the automation of cell production systems: dynamic simulation of deformable objects, assembly task and motion planning based on manipulation skill learning, motion planning, control software based on sensor feedback, and 3-D detection technologies for industrial parts. 3-(3)-1 Assistive Robots for the Improvement of QOL The goal is to develop assistive robots for domestic uses towards the improvement of the QOL in the aged society. 3-(3)-2 Autonomous Navigation of Mobile Robots for Service Industries The goal is to realize the autonomous navigation of mobile robots for the automation of service industries. 3-(4)-3 Humanoid Robotics for the Creation of Novel Services The goal is to integrate humanoid robotics with media technologies for creating new robot services in contents industries and with the analysis techniques of human motions for supporting simulation services of the motions towards the establishment of the novel services based on humanoid robotics.