OMRON Corporation (HQ: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; President and CEO: Yoshihito Yamada) announced today that it will participate in the World Robot Summit 2018 (WRS2018) as an Official Partner. Hosted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the WRS2018 consists of international robot competitions and exhibitions held at the Tokyo Big Sight for five days from October 17 to 21, 2018.

The WRS2018 will be held as a pre-event to WRS2020, posing an opportunity for people to build networks and have discussions on the theme of robots with the aim to achieve a society where humans and robots live together and cooperate. It consists of two parts: the World Robot Challenge (WRC), a robot competition in which teams from all over the world compete in various categories where use of robots is highly expected as they demonstrate their robotic technologies and ideas; and the World Robot Expo (WRE), an exhibition that provides a glimpse of robots working in the present and in the future. As an Official Partner of the event, OMRON will showcase its robotics-related technologies that will help us to realize a "society of harmony between humans and machines," where machines bring out human ability and potential to ensure that humans work and live more creatively. At the same time, OMRON will take this opportunity to accelerate discussions and co-creation with developers and experts from around the world, thereby further advancing its core technologies of "Sensing & Control + Think" and expanding opportunities to make robots an integral part of production floors and elsewhere.

About the exhibit at the WRS2018

WRS Experience/Demonstration Area (East Hall 6)

OMRON will exhibit its table tennis robot FORPHEUS, which embodies the evolution of the relationship between humans and machines made possible by its core technologies, "Sensing & Control + Think." Visitors are invited to experience the world of "harmony between humans and machines," where machines bring out human ability through table tennis rallies.

WRE (East Hall 6)

On display at the OMRON booth adjacent to the WRS Experience/Demonstration Area is the state-of-the-art autonomous collaborative robot, which combines OMRON's autonomous mobile robot LD series with the collaborative arm robot TM series by Taiwan's Techman Robot Inc., which entered into a strategic alliance with OMRON in May 2018. Demonstrations will be given of OMRON's solutions that will realize "new harmonization between humans and machines" on the production floors of the near future.

WRC (East Hall 7)

Two industry-academia collaborative teams will join the "Future Convenience Store Challenge" in the "Service Robotics" category and the "Assembly Challenge" in the "Industrial Robotics" category.

Lecture on the Main Stage and Workshop (East Hall 6)

On October 18, Shinji Fukui, Executive Officer, concurrently Senior General Manager, Technology Development Division HQ, Industrial Automation Company, OMRON Corporation, will take the Main Stage to speak about OMRON's commitment to solving social issues with its core technologies "Sensing & Control + Think" and the direction of its robotics technology development. At a Workshop on October 19, OMRON's initiatives for practical application of its robotics technologies will be presented.

Table tennis robot FORPHEUS

Autonomous collaborative robot

Table tennis robot FORPHEUS

The fourth-generation FORPHEUS has further evolved to embody "harmony between humans and machines," as it now has a deeper understanding of people, offers assistances optimized for each individual, and brings out human ability and creativity. New technologies that have made FORPHEUS's further evolution possible include: "deep learning for time-series analysis," which is cutting-edge AI technology, and "synchronized control," which makes the most of the strengths of OMRON's controllers widely used on production floors. FORPHEUS uses the accumulated data on rallies with a number of opponents to instantly determine the opponent's skill level. It not only returns the ball to match the opponent's level but also features functions that make it possible for players of different skill levels - from beginners to advanced players - to enjoy rallies more, such as forecasting a "smash" in order to hit it back or "serving" a ball that is easy for beginners to hit. Furthermore, improved forecasting of the ball's trajectory increases the accuracy of returns on a daily basis.

WRS2018 Outline

Dates: Wednesday October 17 through Sunday October 21, 2018, 10:00-17:00
Venue: Tokyo Big Sight East Hall 6/7/8 (3-11-1, Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
URL: http://worldrobotsummit.org/wrc2018/
OMRON's booth no.: E-17 and Experience/Demonstration Area in East Hall 6

Detailed information

Details of OMRON's core technologies "Sensing & Control + Think" and "FORPHEUS" can be found at the websites below.

"Innovation: Technology to create the future"
https://www.omron.com/innovation/

Website of table tennis robot FORPHEUS
https://www.omron.com/global/en/technology/forpheus/

About OMRON Corporation

OMRON Corporation is a global leader in the field of automation based on its core technology of "Sensing & Control + Think". OMRON's business fields cover a broad spectrum, ranging from industrial automation and electronic components to automotive electronic components, social infrastructure systems, healthcare, and environmental solutions. Established in 1933, OMRON has over 36,000 employees worldwide, working to provide products and services in 117 countries. In the field of industrial automation, OMRON supports manufacturing innovation by providing advanced automation technologies and products, as well as through extensive customer support, in order to help create a better society. For more information, visit OMRON's website at: https://www.omron.com/.

Contact (media):: Brand Communications Department
OMRON Corporation
Tel: +81-75-344-7175

OMRON to Join the World Robot Summit 2018