Mobility Robot Forum in Tsukuba

(Note: Moved from http://greattohokurevival.blogspot.com/2011/04/mobility-robot-forum-in-tsukuba.html on 2 December 2011)

Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan, 12 April 2011

Designated in February by the Japanese Cabinet as a robot zone, today Tsukuba City launches the Mobility Robotics Promotion Council (ロボット特区実証実験推進協議会).

Very heartwarming to see - in spite of the circumstances, this forum is packed with about 180 attendees (final attendance >200). The forum is aimed mainly at companies and groups that are interested in participating in this initiative.

This mobility robot zone is one part of Robotics Tsukuba, an plan to make Tsukuba a global hub for service robotics.

Opening remarks: Kenichi Ichihara, Mayor of Tsukuba City

The Great East Japan Earthquake (sentence interrupted by M 6.3, Level 4 earthquake) showed how quickly an advanced society can be paralyzed by disaster. However, it is clear that science and technology will play a big role in recovery.

Robotics will play major role in cleaning up Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. AIST is already acting in this regard.