World Robot Summit

October 17-21, 2018 World Robot Summit 2018 | August / October 2020 World Robot Summit 2020

About

Robotics for Happiness

Towards achieving a society where humans and robots cooperate and coexist.

The World Robot Summit (WRS) consists of two parts: World Robot Challenge (WRC), a robot competition in which teams from all over the world compete in 4 categories where use of robots is highly expected; and the World Robot Expo (WRE), an exhibition that features advanced robots and robotic technologies and provides a glimpse of robots working in the present and in the future.
We look forward to hosting many participants and visitors at WRS2018 who will come together to see, experience, and learn about robotics and discuss how people and robots will live together in the future. We hope that you enjoy WRS2018 and come back to WRS2020 which will be held in 2020 in Aichi and Fukushima Prefectures.

Schedule

2018

World Robot Summit 2018

Event Name
World Robot Summit 2018
Venue
Tokyo Big Sight East Halls 6/7/8
Schedule
October 17-21, 2018
* Held alongside Japan Robot Week 2018.
Hosts
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
New Energy Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)
WRS2018 Outline

2020

World Robot Summit 2020

Event Name
World Robot Summit 2020
Venue
Aichi International Exhibition Center
Schedule
Early October 2020 for one week
* Held alongside RoboCup Asia-Pacific Open and Japan Robot Week 2020 (tentative).

Two of the challenges under the Disaster Robotics Category are scheduled as follows.

Venue
Robot Test Field located in Fukushima Prefecture
Schedule
Mid-August 2020 for about 3 days
Hosts
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
New Energy Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)


Challenge

About

We carry out total of 9 challenges at WRC in 4 categories (Industrial Robotics, Service Robotics, Disaster Robotics, and Junior).


Expo

About

In conjunction with the Challenge, an Expo will be held to present examples of applied robotics to the world.

Relevant Events Schedule

  • October 17 - 21World Robot Summit 2018
  • August / October 2020World Robot Summit 2020

2018

World Robot Summit 2018

Venue

Tokyo Big Sight

WRS2018 Outline Tokyo Big Sight Website

2020

World Robot Summit 2020

Venue

Aichi International Exhibition Center

For directions, please visit the Aichi International Exhibition Center website.

Aichi International Exhibition Center Website

Two of the challenges under the Disaster Robotics Category are scheduled as follows.

Venue

Robot Test Field located in Fukushima Prefecture

Robot Test Field Website

Executive Committee Members

World Robot Summit Executive Committee Advisory Board Members

In alphabetical order by last name

Chairperson
Takeo Kanade

U. A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Message

Executive Committee Members
Chieko Asakawa

IBM Fellow / IBM Distinguished Service Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Executive Committee Members
Thomas Bauernhansl

Director, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA / Director, Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management (IFF), University of Stuttgart

Executive Committee Members
Henrik Christensen

Professor, Computer Science, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering / Director, Institute of Contextual Robotics, University of California, San Diego

Executive Committee Members
Ryoji Chubachi

President, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Executive Committee Members
Katsushi Ikeuchi

Emeritus Professor, the University of Tokyo / Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Asia

Executive Committee Members
Hiroaki Kitano

Founder, the RoboCup Federation / President and CEO, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. / Professor, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

Executive Committee Members
Mayumi Oda

Okami (inn manageress), Kagaya Co., Ltd.

Executive Committee Members
Gill Pratt

CEO, Toyota Research Institute
Fellow, Toyota Motor Corporation
(Former Program Manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA))

Message

Executive Committee Members
Takako Suwa

President, Daiya Seiki Co., LTD.

Executive Committee Members
Yangsheng Xu

President, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Executive Committee Members
Naoko Yamazaki

Astronaut

Message

World Robot Summit Executive Committee Members

In alphabetical order by last name

Chairperson
Tomomasa Sato

Emeritus Professor
The University of Tokyo

Message

Executive Committee Members
Noriaki Ando Ph.D.

Team Leader, Robot Software Platform Research Team, Robot Innovation Research Center, AIST

Executive Committee Members
Shu Ishiguro Ph.D.

Deputy-Director Future Robotics Technology Center
Chiba Institute of Technology

Executive Committee Members
Dr. Amy Eguchi

RoboCup Federation, Vice President representing RoboCupJunior, Board of Trustee member/Associate Professor of Education, Bloomfield College

Message

Executive Committee Members
Kohtaro Ohba

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology(AIST) Department of Information Technology and Human Factors Robot Innovation Research Center Deputy Director, Research Center

Executive Committee Members
Hiroyuki Okada Ph.D.

Executive Director, RoboCup Japanese National Committee
Professor, Tamagawa University, College of Engineering, Department of Information and Communication Technology

Message

Executive Committee Members
Sadao Kawamura

Professor
Department of Robotics Ritsumeikan University

Executive Committee Members
Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Professor
The University of Tokyo

Executive Committee Members
Shinya Kotosaka Ph. D.

Associate Professor Saitama University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Executive Committee Members
Toshihiro Sawa

President,
The Robotics Society of Japan

Executive Committee Members
Masaru Sudo

President & Representative Director, FujisoftKikakuInc.
Tournament Committee Member, ALL JAPAN ROBOT-SUMO TOURNAMENT

Executive Committee Members
Atsuo Takanishi

Professor of The Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University

Executive Committee Members
Satoshi Tadokoro

President, International Rescue System Institute
Professor, Tohoku University
President, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Program Manager, Japan Cabinet Office ImPACT Program

Message

Executive Committee Members
Akifumi Tamaoki

General Manager, Partner Robot Div. TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Executive Committee Members
Yorichika Nishijima

Dentsu Robotics Business Operations
Chief Robot Communication Designer / Copywriter

Executive Committee Members
Itsuki Noda

President of RoboCup Federation and Principal Research Manager of Artificial Intelligence Research Center,
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Executive Committee Members
Eiyu Hayashi

Assistant Manager, Event Business Department, THE NIKKAN KOGYO SHIMBUN, LTD.

Executive Committee Members
Shigeoki Hirai Ph.D.

Director General
New Technology Frontier and Multi-disciplinary Unit (Robotics & Artificial Intelligence) Technology Strategy Center(TSC) New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization

Executive Committee Members
Hiroshi Fujiwara

Executive Director
Japan Robot Association（JARA）　

Executive Committee Members
Nobuto Matsuhira

Professor
Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics Shibaura Institute of Technology

Executive Committee Members
Dr. Kazuhito Yokoi

Deputy Director General,
Department of Information Technology and Human Factors, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Executive Committee Members
Yasuyoshi Yokokohji

Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University

Message

Executive Committee Members
Kazuhiko Yokoyama

General Manager
Tsukuba Research Laboratory, Corporate Research & Development Center
YASKAWA ELECTRIC CORPORATION

Executive Committee Members
Kazuyoshi Wada Ph.D

Associate Professor 
Faculty of System Design
Tokyo Metropolitan University

Executive Committee Members
Takahiro Ishii

Director
Robotics Policy Office,Industiral Machinery Division
Manufactuaring Industries Bureau
Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry

Executive Committee Members
Shuji Yumitori

Director General,Robot and Artificial Intelligence
Technology Department
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization

Contact Us

Please email info@worldrobotsummit.org for inquiries and applications regarding sponsorship.

info@worldrobotsummit.org

Chairperson, World Robot Summit Executive Committee

Tomomasa Sato

Emeritus Professor
The University of Tokyo

Message from World Robot Summit Executive Committee Chairperson Tomomasa Sato

The World Robot Summit will bring global robotics pioneers together for the first Robot Challenge and Expo, with the aim of a realization of a Robot World in which humans and robots can live and work together. At the Robot Challenge and Expo, the world's most advanced robots, robotics experts and other minds will gather to accelerate robotics technologies and social implementation through competitions, discussions, dialogue, and presentations of the Robot World. Actually, the fundamentals of robotic science and technology have already come together for the most part, so we are heading toward an age in which putting these fundamentals together is the way to generate value. The Robot Challenge and Expo will bring the wisdom of many together to make the accelerated implementation of this possible.
The World Robot Challenge, the competition element of the World Robot Summit, will consist of Challenges in four categories. The Industrial Robotics Category will aim for production in variable types and amounts; the Service Robotics Category will aim for collaboration between people and robots; the Disaster Robotics Category will aim for robots capable of performing disaster relief missions; and the Junior Category will aim to train young designers. In addition, the World Robot Expo, the exhibition portion of the Summit, will offer an Integrated Expo at the Challenge venue to exhibit advanced robots and robotics technologies, and a Regional Expo, which will introduce the latest examples of social implementation of robots in the local area. The Challenge and Expo will be held in close collaboration and integration with each other. Along with these, the World Robot Summit will assemble the world’s foremost robotics researchers and developers along with key figures in the public and private sectors in one venue to exchange information on the current state of robotics, discuss its future, and show the direction of the Robot World.

Chairperson, Industrial Robotics Competition Committee

Yasuyoshi Yokokohji

Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University

Industrial robots that have spread rapidly worldwide since the 1980s have played an important role in the field of manufacturing.
Although industrial robots, which are good at accurately repeating the same task but inflexible, had been efficient in mass production era, they have become difficult to meet the demands of high-mix low-volume production in recent years.
Particularly, "assembly" is a difficult task for robots because it takes time to prepare peripheral devices such as part feeders and jigs, and careful teaching is required for precise part fitting. Therefore, many assembling works are performed manually by human workers.
However, labor shortage and labor cost is becoming a serious problem recently both in Japan and abroad, and realization of a robot system that can handle high-mix low-volume production is strongly desired.

Based on this background, we in the WRC manufacturing category expect participating teams to develop a robot system that can automatically generate motion procedures from given product information and can recognize, grasp, and assemble various parts including flexible parts.
Ultimately, we aim at "agile one-off manufacturing" where efficient manufacturing is possible even for one-off products by quickly reconfiguring the system without teaching and jigs.

Chairperson, Service Robotics Competition Committee

Hiroyuki Okada, Ph.D.

Executive Director, RoboCup Japanese National Committee
Professor, Tamagawa University, College of Engineering, Department of Information and Communication Technology

I am engaged in cognitive developmental robotics research, with aim of clarifying developmental mechanisms in human cognitive processes using infants and robots.
I am interested in a wide variety of subjects, from language acquisition in infants to speech recognition systems for robots.
My objective is to connect the seemingly unrelated fields of infant research and robotics, and understand the flexible framework of intelligence.
I won the 2008 and 2010 RoboCup world championship (@Home league). I am team leader of RoboCup@Home eR@sers .

Baby science and robots
Seemingly unrelated things connecting these two
It is a supple intelligence mechanism
To create a human friendly robot is the key to understanding people
With this belief, I continue my research
A human's mind that looks beyond robot research
I want to solve the mysteries of the human mind

Chairperson, Disaster Robotics Competition Committee

Satoshi Tadokoro

President, International Rescue System Institute
Professor, Tohoku University
President, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Program Manager, Japan Cabinet Office ImPACT Program

On that memorable day, the strong shake grabbed me roughly by the shoulders. I could not get up by my arms and legs. The line between life and death was thin as a knife edge. Lives dead, lives saved, and lives fed to the fire, were seen right under our nose. Can robotics pin the faint hope to keep happy daily lives? What values can robotics present for avoiding death in disasters? How can robotics promote our safety and security? This competition shall give a clue to the answers.

Chairperson, Junior Competition Committee

Dr. Amy Eguchi

RoboCup Federation, Vice President representing RoboCupJunior, Board of Trustee member / Associate Professor of Education, Bloomfield College

We are living in a transitional era when human-robot co-existence is rapidly becoming a norm in society, similar to how personal computers and smartphones became such integral parts of our lives, whether we were ready for them or not. World Robotic Summit – World Robot Challenge Junior Category aims to provide unique opportunities for students from around the world to imagine robots coexisting in their everyday life, create and realize their dream collaboration with robots in their everyday setting, either at home or school. World Robot Challenge Junior Category attracts young roboticists who are interested in programming and/or engineering robots to become active users and creators of future robots.

World Robot Summit Executive Committee Advisory Board Members

Takeo Kanade

U. A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Expectations for World Robot Summit (WRS)
I hope that WRS will bring together leading researchers and students of Robotics and AI. Competition promotes collaboration. By competing with each other for the WRS Challenges, participants can recognize where they excel and where they need improvements. That will help them not only honing in their own skills, but also working with others. I expect that WRS will contribute to developing the personnel who open the way to the future robotics technology.

Call for participation
WRS will make excellent researchers and engineers gather in Japan from all over the world. Try the farthest extent of your own technology, know its limits, and make a new world-class challenge. I would like our participants to have such exciting experience at WRS.

World Robot Summit Executive Committee Advisory Board Members

Gill Pratt

CEO, Toyota Research Institute
Fellow, Toyota Motor Corporation
(Former Program Manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA))

Expectations for World Robot Summit (WRS)
Challenges accelerate technological development through tangible goals, competition and cooperation. The WRS challenges will help tackle difficult tasks that are currently encountered in several areas, including disaster response, household support activities, and industrial manufacturing. For example, manufacturers face the trade-offs between productivity and flexibility due the cost of changing robots and production lines when manufacturing new items. The WRS challenges will seek solutions to address this need. Additionally Challenges drive human resource development and nurture talent. As with the history of DARPA’s Challenges, I expect WRS participants to generate new technology, create new startups, and become global leaders in diverse fields.

Call for participation
WRS is a new competition launched in Japan, a world leader in robotics, to promote the integration of robots into society. Exhibitions and various events will also be showcased alongside the WRS Challenges. I look forward to your participation from all over the world.

World Robot Summit Executive Committee Advisory Board Members

Naoko Yamazaki

Astronaut

Expectations for World Robot Summit (WRS)
The study on utilizing robots in spaceships has been advancing. A validity of robots has been already researched and verified in some cases, such as, becoming a conversation partner in a spaceship, supporting to take a video, doing extravehicular activity, but robots will eventually play more important roles. To make robots cooperate with humans on an equal basis or to replace humans for robots, considering sharing responsibilities, what we need is not only an improvement, but also an innovation. When trying to make an innovation, it is important to look ahead beyond a few generations. Even the technologies that seem to be absurd dreams may cause breakthroughs. I hope that WRS will be a place to create an innovation and also to draw many people's attention how to use the software and ideas.

Call for participation
Why do not you compete together for robotics technology at WRS where robotics people of excellence from around the world gather?