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Honda Motor Co.'s walking and talking Asimo human-shaped robot comes with voice recognition, pours juice into a cup and can run around on two legs. But, unlike Roomba, it has yet to enter a real living room to do actual vacuuming and it merely plays mascot at events. Since the late 1990s, like other manufacturers, Canon began using the "cell" production method, in which a team of workers or one worker puts together a major part, rather than doing a simple task over and over. In recent years, robots have become so much a part of this cell production, Canon calls it "man-machine cell." Eventually, human involvement will be phased out in making some products, according to Canon. In the U.S., Amazon.com Inc. is buying Kiva Systems, which makes robots and software to help companies fulfill orders, for $775 million. Amazon has been using automation at its order fulfillment centers for some time. But Kiva's technology is designed to lower costs and will be used to help workers pick and pack books. Sano, the academic, stressed the need for a system so workers can communicate with robots. He also stressed that there will always be room for human intelligence, using the Japanese for "craftsmanship," or "takumi." "Human beings are needed to come up with innovations on how to use robots," said Sano. "Going to a no-man operation at that level is still the world of science fiction."
[Associated
Press;
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