The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (President: ISHIMURA Kazuhiko)(hereafter “AIST”) and Komatsu Ltd. (President and CEO: OGAWA Hiroyuki ) (hereafter “Komatsu”) launched a new cooperative research laboratory in April 2020. This laboratory focuses on development of human augmentation technologies to enhance harmonization between human and construction equipment. The objective is to improve safety, to achieve well-being, to enhance employee engagement of machine operators through interaction between human and construction equipment. Moreover, we challenge to develop service technologies to support well-being management for client companies through visualization of health conditions and employee engagement.

The ratio of active job openings to construction technicians has recently exceeded seven times (based on the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's “General Employment Status”), and in the construction industry, it is required to create an attractive work environment and to attract more job seekers. Under these circumstances, novel technologies to improve t he safety and health of operators, and to improve productivity. Our laboratory seeks solutions with human augmentation technologies to enhance harmonization between human and construction equipment, and conducts consistent research and development from construction equipment interfaces to service systems, as well as verification of the business effects of client companies.

Komatsu's mid-term management plan, which was launched in April 2019, has stated that " DANTOTSU Value: ESG solutions through the creation of customer value and improvement of earnings" as a way to create value through innovation. In addition, the AIST Human Augmentation Research Center has developed “system close to human to enable human to live more actively” in collaboration with universities, companies, and public institutions, and utilizes the local demonstration environment in the Kashiwa-no-ha district of Kashiwa City. It was established in November 2018 as a research organization aiming at social implementation. This cooperative laboratory was established to integrate Komatsu's design / development / solution technology in the field of construction equipment with AIST's knowledge of human augmentation technology and service engineering, and to develop products as construction equipment and services as well-being management support towards the next stage of servitization.